Secrets of the heart
by Kryalla Orchid
Summary: Why did the sun have to shine on the day he broke her heart? Starfire centric. Complete.
1. Prologue

_**Disclaimer**:__ I don't own the Titans. They belong to DC and Warner Bros. Not me. Darn.  
_

**_Broken record moment:_**_ Aussie, spelling, slang, word usage is all different._

_**Author's Note:**_

_HELLO! I have returned. Just for a quicky chapter story, then I shall disappear once more!**  
**_

_For those of you who follow my tumblr, you'll know about the personal tragedy my family suffered at the beginning of this month. You'll also be aware (because of haywire emotions) of the recent... um... development... which has been circulating and doing one or two things, either you're incredibly excited (hello pinku!), or had the crap scared out of you. (And I'm not talking crackship Vallah).  
_

_While it's not written past a few chapters ahead, it is planned thoroughly, I kind of need motivation at the moment, which is why it's posted early._

_So! _

_For those of you who don't follow me on tumblr, sit back and watch the story unfold. For those of you who do, this is how._

_Also, non followers of tumblr, there are RobStar drabbles there, if you need a fix. Linkages on my author's page.  
_

_Oh, and this is just a teaser. Feel free to theorise._

_**Big fat warning:**__ Um... Kryptic Kry. Things are not what they seem. Or, they could be exactly as they seem.  
_

* * *

**Prologue**

_Why did the sun have to shine on the day he broke her heart? Why were the birds still singing? Why did the children still play and be merry? Why didn't everyone suffer the same pain she did? How could it all be so cruel?_

_Time marched on. It didn't stop for a broken heart. It wouldn't let her breathe, it wouldn't dim the pain. Just kept pressing on, forcing her to move with it. The sun rose and fell in its endless cycle. The world didn't stop just for her. _

_It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. She'd been so stupid to ruin the good thing they'd had going. If only she hadn't opened her mouth._

_She accepted his words with bowed head. Hadn't fought. Hadn't protested. He was right. Deep down, hidden away in the part of her she never allowed anyone to see, she knew it couldn't have lasted. _

_She was alien. He was human._

_She was open in her affection. He was closed. Secretive. Hidden behind his mask. He'd never open up enough to truly let her in. _

_He hadn't cared, not like she'd cared for him._

_She'd be the only one to carry this burden, this flaming torch._

–

An explosion rocked the side of the building.

Chucks of rock thrown aside, tumbled down the outer wall to create a mound, a cloud of dust billowed from the newly created hole. Silence filled the moment after the explosion, then small broken fragments of stone began to rain against the concrete.

"Everyone out!" a voice bellowed. Robin. The eighteen-year-old leader of the Titans, protectors of Jump City. He was out first, ready to aid the injured through and spirit them to safety.

Black energy encased the wall, providing support, while stretchers of black magic carried the injured. More strength added by a cybernetic form, while a green figure herded the lesser injured people toward the small opening. From somewhere up near the trembling roof, a green light shone.

A shadow flickered among the dust, a brief shape, disappearing as fast as it had appeared.

"That's the last," Beast Boy said as he stumbled up to the exit, panting. Sweat and dirt streaked his face, making the stubble on his chin more pronounced. He wiped at his face, streaking the dirt even worse.

Robin nodded, then jerked his head to indicate behind him. "Okay, get clear. Raven, c'mon!"

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered, gliding through the opening in the wall, energy still streaming from her hands as she kept the opening open. "I'm coming."

Cyborg clambered through next, an unconscious body thrown over his shoulder. "All clear," he announced in his deep voice. "We're good."

A loud metallic groan sounded from inside the building. Loud and long, as though some metal platform was straining against an enormous weight and failing. People yelled as they scrambled to get even further away. Clangs sounded as metal poles hit the ground, or each other, or the brickwork as the building came apart.

Then the roof collapsed.

Among the chaos of fleeing people, the screams and yells, the plume of dust and fire rising from what had been a factory, a cry of four voices rose.

"_Starfire_!"


	2. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: **I was going to leave it a couple of days before the next chapter, but I thought that might be a little too mean, considering the prologue didn't tell you much._

_ Enjoy!**  
**_

* * *

**Chapter 1**

_It started as a game. Sort of and not really, but she was sure he thought it was a game. She hadn't been prepared to see him gallivanting across the rooftops of Jump in plain sight. She was on solo patrol and his appearance shocked her enough that all she could do was stare._

_Then he waved. Impertinent. Arrogant. Mysterious. _

_He ran. _

_She chased._

_She didn't catch him that time._

_Or the next. Or even the next._

_But the fourth time she saw him, he allowed her close enough to talk. She demanded he hand himself in, he retorted he wasn't doing anything wrong. She countered that he was a wanted criminal and he replied with something so devilishly clever about who wanted him and what she could do with him in handcuffs, it left her speechless._

_Flustered, she didn't protest when he leapt over the edge of the building with a mischievous wave and a salute. Instead, she let him go._

–

**Two weeks ago**

"Where the hell is he leading us this time?" Robin asked through his communicator. The rev of his R-Cycle hummed in the background.

"Dunno, man," Cyborg said, as the T-Car screeched around another corner. "But I'm having no luck cutting him off."

"He's heading to Main," Beast Boy called, panting as he ran across the rooftop of an office building, then shifted back into a bird and launched himself over the edge.

"Raven?" Robin asked, switching down several gears.

"Can't get close enough to be accurate," Raven replied.

"Then don't be accurate."

"Robin," Starfire said hesitantly as she flew above the city monitoring the situation. "Last time-"

Robin interrupted her, "Last time he led us into a gunfight between Marco's Raiders and Skinny Tony."

"Yes," Starfire agreed, continuing, "however, we did manage to do the arresting of many of their members and-"

Robin's tyres screeched as he rounded a corner. "Beast Boy nearly got killed. Cyborg had his leg shot off."

"Thanks for the remind," Cyborg said. "Girl's got a point though. These last few chases have-"

"If Red X wants us to take down these crime syndicates for him, he can damn well ask rather than leading us into ambushes we're not ready for."

"You underestimate us," Raven replied.

"There's a reason why these people don't operate in Jump, Raven," Robin said. "While Skip asked us to be here, I'm pretty sure their patience will be wearing thin by now. Busting the crime families is not what they asked us here for."

Jump City's neighbouring city, Skippler's Cove (not to be confused with Hopper's Gorge), while not usually having meta-human criminals in the region, had been host to a sudden influx of Red X sightings. As things were pretty slow in Jump, the Titans had gone over to investigate why Red X was popping up in Skip rather than Jump. Their resulting efforts had netted zero criminals called Red X, but countless other criminals who were simply in the wrong place (or the right place where Red X was concerned) at the wrong time.

They were still trying to discern what Red X was doing in this city, he wasn't leaving any clues behind like he normally would and- instead of appearing at random to mess with Robin and lead them all on some chase across Jump at the end of which he'd vanish, offer some form of assistance with whatever disaster was occurring, or try and steal xenthonium- he was actually hurting criminals. Broken wrists, broken arms, he was extracting information from them by any means he could. And it was troubling.

Robin was under the belief that Red X had finally turned dark. He now posed as much threat as other criminals. Any past aid he'd given to the Titans, and there was a few instances over the years where they'd sort of worked together for a common goal, was wiped clean.

Red X couldn't be trusted any more. Common ground was gone. No more chances.

Starfire fell silent. Robin was irritated these days and she found it best to remain silent when he was. He was right, they were being led but Starfire didn't agree with Robin's reasoning as to why they were being led.

"Raven," Robin commanded. "Go... two streets south, one east from your position. I want a road block at that T-section from my direction. Beast Boy, there's a crossroads coming up on your position, I want you positioned there, facing south. Cyborg, one north, two east, facing west. Starfire, five west, one south, facing east. Let's box him in."

"Gotcha," Cyborg responded.

Raven acknowledged with a grunt, Beast Boy screeched and Starfire dropped down from the sky toward her designated spot.

The people of Skippler's Cove weren't like the Jump City resident. They didn't part or scatter when they saw a Titan drop from the sky with a look of determination on her face. Instead, they eyed Starfire with curiosity, halting in their journeys as though they believed they could witness whatever drama could unfold. It was nerve-wracking for Starfire, she was concerned for their safety.

She remained floating above them, her hands lit and raised in readiness as she faced east along the road. Thankfully, those driving did seem to realise some imminent danger was coming and removed themselves from harm, but the pedestrians lingered. Some of them took photos. Some of them chatted to each other, or called someone on their cells, some even took videos.

She sighed. Robin had given them explicit instructions to do their best to accommodate the people of Skip while they were in town. Bow to their wishes, be present and polite. But it was hard to do that when they would put themselves in danger just to get a shot of heroes in action. Starfire was especially concerned for the children she could see. Why didn't people understand the presence of a Titan wasn't necessarily a good thing?

"Any contact?" Robin asked and Starfire glanced at the communicator at her belt.

"Did you lose him?" Cyborg asked.

"He must've jerry-rigged the teleport from his belt into his bike."

"Goddamnit," Cyborg swore.

"Why'd you have to give him teleports?" Beast Boy whined. "Why couldn't it have been invisibility or something?"

"Could we not go over my failings at present?" Robin reprimanded. "Any contact?"

"None here," Raven replied.

"Me either," Beast Boy said.

"Nope."

Starfire sucked in a breath and dropped down toward the ground as Red X's cycle rounded the corner. He roared to a stop, just at the edge of the intersection. With bated breath, she watched as he turned the bike side on to her and put his foot down on the ground to support the bike. "Hello cutie."

She inclined her head, trying to ignore the pounding in her chest. "Red X."

He nodded at her hands. "Are you really going to use those?"

"If you force to me to, yes."

He expelled the air from his chest in a grunt. "Huh."

"Why are you doing this?" Starfire asked, finishing her journey to the ground. She braced her feet apart, directly in Red X's way.

"You know why."

Starfire shook her head. "You cannot be certain-"

"I've seen them."

Starfire sucked in a breath. The starbolts died and she touched her chest with one hand and reached for him with the other. "Red-"

Her communicator crackled to life. "Star, you there?" Robin asked.

Red X revved his bike immediately in response. "Looks like he wants you."

"We can aid you," Starfire insisted, taking a few steps toward him.

"I don't need his help."

"Starfire!" Robin's voice broke under the strain of his call.

Red X circled around her, then darted down the road behind her.

She raised her communicator, hesitating a moment too long. "I found him," she murmured and then took off in pursuit. "X," she called as she caught up, then positioned herself to fly level with him. "We can help-"

"I don't need your boyfriend's help, I said that-"

She fired a weak starbolt across the front of his tyres in warning. Red X's bike wobbled, but she had his attention. "If you continually insist to lead us on these... merry chases into enemy territory, you really should inform-"

"It's no one's business but mine."

Starfire growled. Darting ahead, she placed herself directly in his road. Planting her hands on the handlebars and used her strength to slow down the bike.

"Cutie," Red X said, astounded. "What are you doing?"

"You will cease this and engage in conversation with me immediately," she snapped. Her boots scraped against the ground as the bike continued to slow and she braced herself, skidding along the road for extra strength, also being as careful as she could not to damage the surface.

Red X lifted a hand and directed his palm at her, the X in the centre glowing red. "Don't make me-"

Starfire simply lifted a hand and placed her palm against his. "X," she murmured and looked at his mask where his eyes would be. "Please."

He grew still. The bike shuddered as Starfire's strength forced it slower.

"We are still friends, are we not?" Starfire asked. She summoned as much compassion as she could and allowed it to fill her. "I can help you."

Red X shook himself. "No. I can't let anyone stop me. Not even you," he murmured and fired.

The back of Stafire's hand smacked her in the face as the force of Red X's shot pushed her backward. The four arms of his adhesive X wrapped around her, tying one hand awkwardly to her chest, but leaving the other arm free. She hit the ground on her rump before she managed to use her flight to hold her upright. She could still go after him.

With a small amount of disbelief and a large dollop of regret, she saw Red X raise his hand and fire another sticky X at her. The shock of it forcing her backward and into the side of a building this time where she remained stuck to.

"You can't help me," he said and revved his bike. "Not this time."

Wheels spun, gravel kicked up and he was gone.

She struggled and strained, but she couldn't reach the small pouch on her belt, or her communicator. Fortunately, she knew her friends were on their way.

Raven stepped through the wall beside her at the same time Robin screeched around the corner.

His bike slowed down long enough for him to lift his visor. "Which way?"

Starfire pointed with her head and one hand. "There."

"Got her, Raven?" Robin bellowed as he passed them by to follow Red X.

Raven waved her hand impatiently, already digging through a small pouch on her belt for the de-solvent. "Go."

Ceasing her struggling against the bonds, Starfire waited for the de-solvent to work.

Raven's eyes were compassionate. "You tried reasoning again, didn't you?"

She nodded and hung her head. "I know I should not, but... he has helped us before. He saved my life, he has saved Robin's life. He has always been most helpful and-"

"He's not a Titan," Raven replied.

"I know."

"He helped us because it suited his purposes at the time-"

"I know that too."

"We've had to hunt him just as much as work with him because he's broken into places to steal xenth-"

"Raven, I know," Starfire snapped, then immediately regretted it. "My apologies, I did not mean to be angry with you."

Raven nodded, understanding. "It's just hard to hear it. To see it."

Starfire nodded once, then allowed her head to hang.

Raven patted her shoulder, then broke the de-solvent capsule on the centre of one of the x's. "Some people have to want to be saved."

Prone to sighing lately, Starfire felt another one slip through her lips.

A green Pterodactylus dripped down to hover in the middle of the street and squawked at them. Without turning her head, Raven pointed in the direction Robin had gone. She bent down to apply the de-solvent to the other x while the first one became unstable enough for Starfire to free herself.

Beast Boy squawked at them again and took off in the direction Robin had been heading, followed just moments later by Cyborg, who'd opened the passenger side window to check on them as he went by.

"What are you going to do?" Raven asked.

Starfire shrugged. "What can I do? If he persists on his current course..." she sighed. "Then I will do my duty."

Brow furrowed, Raven studied her for a moment. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Robin's voice snapped over the communicators, "Lost him. No sign. Anything on scanners?"

Starfire's heart tried to ascend up her throat as they waited for Cyborg's answer. Pushing the mixed feelings away, she tried to concentrate solely on being a Titan. Nothing else. There was no room for anything else any more.

The communicator crackled. "Nothing, man. Sorry."

With a soft swear, Robin began to issue orders, "Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy. Hit the air. See if you can see anything. Cy, reconfigure the crime scanner in the T-Car, see of you can get anything off the CCTVs."

Raven and Starfire exchanged glances, then both of them rose gracefully from the ground and into the air. Beast Boy appeared out of the buildings several streets away. Taking care to see they didn't double up on their search, they both watched until Beast Boy picked a direction, then Raven and Starfire each picked another direction.

They all searched for well over an hour for any trace of Red X before Robin was satisfied he'd gone back into hiding. During their search, Starfire assisted in righting a fallen fruit truck, Raven saved a small child from crossing a road by himself and Beast Boy rescued a cat from a tree.

"All right," came the eventual call. "Back to the hotel. We'll start over."

Starfire sighed and closed her communicator, clipping it back onto her belt. Flying a quick loop-the-loop to expend some of the nervous energy she'd accumulated, she set course for the hotel.

–

_Starfire? Starfire? Can you hear me?_

_I can't see her! Try over there!_

_She can't survive under all this, can she?_

_Don't say that!_ _Just find her!_


	3. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note:** I have nothing terribly exciting to say here, beyond the fact I am loving how excited you all are about this fic. I love you guys!**  
**_

* * *

**Chapter 2**

_Afterward, neither of them had been really sure how it happened. She vaguely remembered a fire and an explosion, then a searing pain in her head and along her back as she'd been hit by a blasted piece of metal and thrown across the room._

_For her, everything had gone black as the world had tumbled down around her._

_For him, he'd just been in the neighbourhood. Seen the fire, gone to investigate for some reason he couldn't even explain himself and seen her get hit by the beam. _

_After all, he knew how to be a hero, even if he didn't like it._

_He'd caught her, protected her as best he could as the building collapsed and holed them up beneath a fragile barricade of the wooden floorboards of the second floor of the building and surrounded by bricks. She'd woken to find herself covered in a black, jagged edged cape while he dug through the rubble in an attempt to free them._

_It had been a surprise to both of them. She'd been unable to move much, too much pain along her spine, although Raven confirmed later it wasn't broken, she was still pulled from active duty for a week. And he, with his human strength and endurance, had the slow, arduous task of digging them free without bringing everything down on top of them. Add to that, her communicator was broken, she was on solo patrol and was not likely to be missed until next checkpoint. At least an hour, perhaps more._

_They had time to spare, trapped in the decaying remains of the building. So they filled it with conversations._

_They talked, finding things in common they had never realised. Simple things, non scary things. Books they liked, movies they enjoyed. They both had the same excitable opinion of the latest action blockbuster and that conversation filled the silence for some time. He was somewhat of a food nut and she regaled him with stories about delicacies from her home world. He had a good sense of humour and laughed when she told him some of the problems she'd had with the English language since she'd arrived, even offered his condolences for her trouble. _

_Time passed quickly and neither of them really noticed._

_Silence only emerged when he broke through into open air. A hole large enough for him to escape, but unsteady enough that he couldn't make it larger to get her free without injuring her further._

_He could have run. She wouldn't have blamed him if he had. By his stance, it crossed his mind. She told him it was okay to go. If he wanted. She'd be fine._

_But he turned and crawled back through the tunnel he created to her and told her about this fishing trip he went on once upon a time._

_He stayed until the Titans arrived to rescue her._

–

**Ten days ago**

With a sigh, Starfire flopped face first on the bed in her hotel room. They each had separate rooms, well, her, Raven and Robin opted for separate rooms while Cyborg and Beast Boy decided to share. She groaned, reaching up to the head of the bed to grab a pillow to hug for a while.

While she would have enjoyed sharing with Raven, even knowing the empath needed privacy for her morning mediations, right now Starfire was glad of the privacy. Just her and her snuggle pillow, alone in her room, free to have whatever feelings she needed and no one was there to witness.

She was tired. So tired. Everything was such a drain lately, even her regular duties as a Titan.

Perhaps she'd ask Robin if, when this was over, she could take a holiday. Go away some place, even off-world. Relax. Maybe she'd take Raven. Yes, that could work. Raven would love the meditation moons of Tribuneous Nine. On the main planet there was a famous spa which catered for many forms of alien life, they could be pampered in between meditation cycles. Nails, face masks, hair styling, massage, mud baths... yes. She'd make an appointment in the morning. After checking with Raven, of course, but she didn't believe her friend would say no. It had been some time since it had been just the two of them. Perhaps they'd invite Bumblebee, Jinx and Argent along. Perhaps even Kole, although Starfire wasn't certain she'd be willing to travel that far away from Gnaark. Even Pantha, the woman appreciated a good pampering as much as the rest of them.

It would be the perfect time to rethink her life. Make some decisions.

With that thought in mind, she smiled to herself, hugged the pillow closer and closed her eyes.

And opened them in what seemed like scant seconds as a knock sounded on the door.

Groaning, she staggered from the bed and braced herself against the frame of the door to peer through the little hole. Robin stood at the entrance, regarding a folder in his hands. As she watched, he absently raised his hand, knocking on her door again with all the politeness befitting a professional relationship, even if he didn't look up from his reading.

She sighed, rested her head against the door for a moment, then reached for the latch. "Greetings, Robin," she murmured as she opened the door.

"Hey," he said. "I need you to-" He lifted his head to look at her. "Were you sleeping?"

Using her bare foot to hold the door open, she raked a hand through her hair to brush it. "Attempting to," she replied.

"Sorry," he said, smiling sheepishly. "I didn't realise."

"What do you require?" she asked, glancing down at the folder in his hands.

"It can wait."

"Robin, obviously it cannot or you would not have called upon me. What do you require?"

He regarded her for a moment, then tilted the folder so she could see it's contents. "I've been going over the patrol routes for Skip, trying to tighten them up. We don't know this city like Red X does and I think that's why he's able to evade us like he can."

Starfire nodded to show she was following his thoughts.

"See, here," he shifted the folder so he could hold it with one hand, and pointed to the map with a finger. Starfire leaned in closer to see the area he was talking about. "There's a blind spot."

Starfire shook her head. "No. I know that area, there is no spot."

Robin nodded. "There is," he insisted. "See, here, the time it takes you to fly around this building, there's a ten second blind spot when you factor in what the CCTV can see. There's about six of them throughout the city. Moments when he can teleport through if he wants."

"Robin, he could teleport while we were watching him and we would not know where he went."

"Yes, but if he had a base in any of those six spots-"

"And he can roam freely when we are not patrolling, we cannot cover the entire city all the time."

"The CCTV will catch-"

"And are you not aware of how to avoid the CCTV cameras?" Starfire pointed out.

"Yes, but-"

"Then, by extension, should others not be able to determine how to avoid them?"

"Starfire, you're not helping."

Starfire straightened her back as a result of his tone. "Robin, you have asked that we all create as much variance in our patrols as possible. Even if he knew the CCTV times, he cannot predict us. You are over thinking this."

Robin grumbled. "I am, aren't I? I just..." He turned and flopped against the wall, tilting his head back until it rested against the wall too. "I wish I knew what he was up to. Why he felt this was necessary. I don't like not knowing."

Starfire pursed her lips.

"Do you think he's being controlled?" Robin asked, grasping at straws.

Starfire pressed her chest against the frame so it ran a line along the middle of her body, leaning against it as she spoke, "Like you or Terra was by Slade? Or Titans East by Brother Blood?"

"Yeah."

"I think..." Starfire hesitated and swallowed. "I think if he was, he would have found a way to inform us of that fact."

Robin wrinkled his nose. "That's what I was thinking. Well, actually, my thoughts involved him playing us from the beginning, hoping we'd become complacent before he pulled off whatever he's trying to do now."

"You have never truly trusted him."

Robin smirked and tilted his head to regard her. "Trusting someone to have my back on rare occasions is different than trusting someone with my thoughts." He snorted. "You know, Beast Boy said Red X was like Catwoman."

"Female?" Starfire asked.

Robin laughed. "No. Nor someone prancing around in a leather catsuit, either. Just, he always does what suits himself best."

Starfire nodded.

Robin lifted a leg so he could rest his foot against the wall. "Makes me glad I never told him anything important. Like the codes to the Tower and stuff like that."

"He did not work close enough with us for that."

"Yeah, but Catwoman wrangled the codes to the Batcave from Batman early on."

"I imagine Catwoman had a very specific technique she used to conduct said wrangling."

Robin laughed again, it was a nice sound to hear and Starfire wondered how long it had been since he'd done that. "Yeah. Very true." He sobered, the smile dropping. "Did we make a mistake trusting him at all?"

"We have all done things we are not proud of, Robin," Starfire murmured. "You allowed him the benefit of the doubt after he saved my life. We all did. Do not do the guessing second of yourself now. He gave us no cause to have concern previously. We only accepted his aid if he offered it, we expected nothing from him and I do not believe he expects any of the favours in return. Whatever he is doing now, it is not your fault."

Robin nodded, his chin drooping toward his chest.

"When was the last time you received sustenance? Or showered?"

He eyed her. "Do I smell?"

With an innocent shrug and smile, Starfire said, "The stubble on your chin does not aid matters."

Rubbing his chin self-consciously, Robin grumbled. "Yeah, I guess."

Starfire placed her hand on his shoulder. "I shall take your patrol route tonight," she said and nudged him toward his room. "You must sleep."

"What about you?" he asked, hesitating.

"I just had 'the nap'. I am adequately refreshed. Go, order the service of the room and shower."

He grinned. "Room service."

Acknowledging his correction, she suggested, "Try the shanks of lamb. They are most delicious."

"Did you smother them in hot sauce?"

"No, they came with mushroom," she replied.

"Oh. Nice. I'll be sure to check out the menu." He pulled out his key card and unlocked the door to his room across the hall. "Do you want me to order you anything?"

Slipping her feet into her boots, Starfire shook her head. "I am fine."

"You're going now?"

"There is, as you say, no time like the present," she replied, making sure she had her communicator and the key card to her hotel room. "Beside, I believe variance is in order, yes?"

He placed the folder under his arm, his door half open but he did not enter. "We could patrol together, we haven't done that in ages, then have dinner afterward. How about it?"

And there it was. An offer of something couples might do together. Moonlit strolls, followed by dinner. Except Starfire knew how this would end, the same as every other time he'd offered.

Keeping her tone light and playful, she replied. "I fly, you do not. In addition, you are not as light as you used to be when you were younger."

He pulled a face at her. "Meanie. It's all muscle. And you have super strength."

Giggling with a humour she didn't really feel, she closed her door. "Muscle is heavier than adipose. I shall be fine."

"All right, but let me know when you get back."

She smiled as she wandered down the hall toward the staircase so she could get to the roof. "I always do."

The night was crisp and cool and the air smelt different than Jump City's salt water scent. There was a lot more iron in the air, Starfire reasoned it was from the large processing plant in the area. It was a pretty city, neat lines of office buildings and streets, family homes on the outskirts. There were bountiful gardens and lakes, an open plaza in the middle of the city which Starfire had heard hosted the local fruit markets on Sunday mornings, as well as a Saturday morning market containing knick-knacks which Starfire hoped to visit.

She twirled in the air, enjoying the currents of the wind for a long moment. Sometimes it was lovely just to fly, and with the full moon, it was glorious. The moonlight made her skin silvery and her hair a murky grey and she giggled at her own appearance.

She didn't allow the beauty of the night distract her form her duty. As much as she played and danced in the clouds and seemingly meandered across the sky, her eyes were constantly searching the city for any signs of trouble. She hoped her playfulness, her apparent lack of attention might lure Red X into the open.

Of course, she knew she ran the of risk luring more than just Red X. The night was fraught with dangerous people. What those same dangerous people didn't realise was she was more dangerous than any of them combined, if she set her mind to it. Besides, she could get to places they could not.

Skippler's Cove had a large aerial tower in the middle of the city, the top of it tall enough to survey the entire landscape, and be seen by most of the city itself. There was a caged walkway at the top for workers to safely work on or connect themselves to the building if repairs were required. Perfect place for her to be seen landing on.

She waited, sitting on top of the caged walkway and dangled her legs over the edge, facing the direction of the moon. Watching cars travel along the roads, their lights shining brightly soon became boring, but Starfire was patient.

"You rang?"

Starfire breathed a sigh of relief. "Red X. I did not think-"

"You and your friends should pack up and go back to Jump."

Turning her head, she saw Red X standing several feet from her. Fists clenched and, although his arms hung by his sides, his feet were braced. He was prepared for anything and here on his own terms, Starfire could tell.

Remaining sitting to show she wasn't a threat, she replied, "We cannot do that. Not unless we know why. Skippler's Cove has requested our presence because they were concerned about yours."

"Trust me."

"You are not trusting us."

"I don't have to trust your friends. I'm asking _you_ to trust me."

Starfire turned her eyes back to the moon.

Red X's boots made the wire rattle as he shifted his weight. "Make them leave. It's dangerous."

"For whom? Us or you?"

"Both."

Starfire shook her head. "I do not believe you."

"You're... a distraction."

Pain sliced through her, the desired effect of his words, and she shot to her feet in response. "Do not dare," she snapped, advancing on him. "Do not _dare_ use those words on me. Not now. Not ever."

Red X held his position. "Get out of Skip, Starfire. And take your friends with you."

He hit his teleport before she could reach him, not that Starfire was surprised. Because she was watching, she saw where he ended up, where he was headed. Taking a deep breath, she opened her communicator. She was doing this for him. Before he got himself hurt.

"I have located Red X."

"Where?" Robin asked moments later.

She swallowed heavily, then betrayed him. "He is using the subway system to hide his movements."

–

_Keep looking! _

_She's gotta be okay, right Cy? She'll be okay?_


	4. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note:** I know the non-linear stuff may be tricky for to work out. That's the idea and you'll need more to go on than just the first few chapters before it'll start making sense. Hang in there. Check the layouts, that might help. Some of it I am being very obvious about, others I am not.**  
**_

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"_Why are you asking me? For what purpose?"_

"_Just making conversation."_

"_Truly, I do not appreciate this line of conversation."_

"_Just asking. You seem particularly... unhappy today. I didn't know you could be unhappy."_

"_There are many things about me you are not aware of."_

"_Visa versa."_

"_Of that, I am certain, but I do not believe I want to learn more about you."_

"_Oh, c'mon, cutie. I'm a barrel of laughs."_

"_You, in no way, resemble a barrel of any sort, how could you be one of laughs? That would imply a laugh is a visual thing, rather than a sound, and-"_

"_Figure of speech. Sorry."_

"_Oh. Well."_

"_Hey. No. Don't get embarrassed. It's my fault for the phrasing."_

"_Why do you continue to seek me out?"_

"_Huh?"_

"_Every time I am on solo patrol, there you are. It is becoming a pattern. Why are you here?"_

"_... You're fun."_

"_Fun?"_

"_Yup. Nice to talk to. Great to look at. Why wouldn't I seek you out?"_

"_I am somehow very disturbed by that."_

"_I can leave. If you want."_

"_..."_

"_Or, I can sit here in silence too. If that's what you need."_

"_Please."_

"_Okay."_

"_Good."_

"_Fine."_

"_..."_

"_Terrific."_

"_..."_

"_Wonderful."_

"_... Do you misunderstand the concept of silence?"_

"_Nope. I know what it means... Fantastic."_

"_..."_

"_Benissimo."_

"_What?"_

"_Italian. Sorry."_

"_You speak Italian?"_

"_No. Just a few phrases."_

"_Oh."_

"_I speak French though."_

"_Truly?"_

"_Yep. I can teach you if you want."_

"_For that, you would have to remove your mask."_

"_..."_

"_Reconsidered, yes?"_

"_Why would I have to remove my mask?"_

"_My people have the ability to learn any language through lip contact."_

"_Oh... really? That's wicked."_

"_So I have been told."_

"… … _so... kissing?"_

"_What about kissing?"_

"_If it's... like, this transfer of knowledge... that makes it all sound pretty clinical."_

"_And? I do not see your point."_

"_Why would you want to partake in it?"_

"_Partake in what? Kissing?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_I do not partake in kissing."_

"_Ah. Well. No wonder spike is so uptight."_

"_I do not understand."_

"_Sexually frustrated."_

"_Robin is sexually frustrated?"_

"_Yup."_

"_I do the doubting of that."_

"_You'd be surprised. Actually, that makes sense now."_

"_What does?"_

"_Why people never catch you and the hatchling making out. Magazines would pay the paparazzi a fortune for a shot of that."_

"_Is that why you are here? Hoping to make the fortune?"_

"_Good company, pretty girl. I'm good. Money doesn't buy happiness."_

"_But stealing the Red X suit does?"_

"_Yup."_

"_That is twice you have mentioned my appearance."_

"_And?"_

"_And..."_

"_Does it worry you?"_

"_No. I do not think it does."_

"_Does it make you feel all fuzzy-wuzzy inside?"_

"_X! Stop it."_

"_You're ticklish... okay okay! Sorry! Put the eyes out. I'll be good."_

"_Good."_

"_Or as good as a wanted criminal can be."_

"_Hmm."_

"_..."_

"_... Robin and I are never caught 'making out', as you say, because that requires people to be a couple."_

"_... and you're not? I find that hard to believe."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because I saw the footage from Tokyo."_

"_..."_

"_Did you break up?"_

"_I do not require your pity."_

"_This isn't pity. This is my 'he's an idiot look'. You just can't see it because the mask's in the road."_

"_Good."_

"_Fine."_

"_... benissimo."_

"_That's a smile. I saw a smile."_

"_Perhaps."_

"_One day I'll teach you French."_

"_... I would like that."_

–

**Three days ago**

"Do you know what you've done?"

"I-"

"You've ruined _everything_!"

"But-"

"Get out, Starfire. Get out of my life. I want _nothing_ to do with you any more."

–

**Ten days ago**

Although she'd been instructed to wait for the team, Starfire didn't. Red X was moving too fast to wait. Besides, she reasoned as she dove through the stairwell and into the murky underground station, her friends could track her communicator. And if he had a base in the vicinity, she was sure to find it.

There were no people at this particular station. It seemed old, battered. Broken. The odd newspaper fluttered across the floor, a pile of refuge littered the corner. One of the trash cans overflowed with Starbucks coffee mugs which looked like they'd been there for months and several of the fluorescent overhead lights were broken, the glass still littering the ground. Tracks ran either side of the platform, disappearing into four darkened tunnels.

Starfire wondered if this stop was even utilised any more.

She saw a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye as she floated through the station and spun in time to see Red X leap off the edge, on to the tracks and vanish into the gaping mouth of an empty tunnel.

Starfire saw the problem with this straight away. Following him, she'd either be unable to see in the darkness, or give away her position by her tell-tale green shine. Even then, she knew Red X's mask had night vision capabilities, if he looked behind him, he'd spot her. Ultimately, there was little choice in the matter. She had to follow him. She needed to know.

Decision made, she lit both her hands and flew into the tunnel.

It was damp and dark and she flew through a cobweb up near the roof. This tunnel hadn't been used in a long time, she could see the tracks were uneven as she dropped down closer to the ground.

She saw why a few moments later, staring at the concrete wall right across the tracks. The rails were even cemented into the wall at the bottom. Starfire hesitated, staring at the wall. Red X hadn't come back by her.

She made her light brighter, studying each wall behind her, back toward the station. Nothing. No doors. No broken walls that might allow for someone to slip through.

Down by the station, there was the call of a raven, so Starfire darted out of the opening to greet her friends.

"Well?" Robin asked.

"He was here," Starfire insisted, floating over the tracks while he stood on the edge of the platform. "He came in here and disappeared down that tunnel, but when I investigated, there is nothing but a wall. No other exits."

Robin rubbed his chin. "Damn. Raven?"

Raven closed her eyes, while Beast Boy shifted into a hound to see if he could track scents.

Using his arm computer to scan, Cyborg jumped down from the platform and on to the tracks. He frowned. "There's some sort of interference here, but I can't pinpoint origin."

Robin sighed. "Not surprising. Red X has a device designed to mess with your systems."

"And once again, thanks for that, man." Cyborg cut Robin a scathing glance.

"Sorry."

Beast Boy surged back to his normal form and started sneezing with such a violence he shifted form into a random animal every time he sneezed.

"Pepper?" Robin asked,

Beast Boy struggled to answer between sneezes. "I- d-uh-no- *sniff* – but-ut-ut-ut-a-a-a-a-ACHOOO!"

"It's something at least," Robin decided. "He was prepared."

Without opening her eyes, Raven reached into the sleeve of her leotard and held out a tissue for Beast Boy. He took it gratefully, sitting on the floor beside her to blow his nose. Loudly. "I sense life," Raven said. "But I'm pretty certain it's rats."

"Well, this station isn't active. No trains scheduled. I checked the schematics, what you see is what you get." Pointing, he continued,"That way to the next stop, both tracks go. Other way... well... old storage shed by the looks." Cyborg lowered his arm and looked to Robin. "Could be a good place for a hideout."

Robin trotted to the edge of the platform and turned around so the tunnel was at his back. He dipped and ducked his body as he tested line of sight. "Cy, you take the far tunnel along this track, Beast Boy, you and I will take the other side, Beast Boy you go the same direction as Cyborg, I'll take the storage shed."

"Will that not also be blocked?" Starfire asked.

Robin had an answer for that too. "If it is, I'll head up and help Beast Boy. If it isn't, well..." He address Cyborg and Beast Boy. "Check those tunnels and head to me, we'll all converge on the storage area."

"What do you want us to do?" Raven asked.

Robin kept looking around as he spoke, "Search around here, psychically and visually for clues. See if he comes back. You two are the only ones who can't see in the dark well-"

Raven cleared her throat, lifting an eyebrow at him.

"I mean, without giving yourself away," Robin amended.

"Right," Raven replied and pursed her lips.

Fumbling in his belt, Robin looked at Beast Boy. "You right to go?"

Beast Boy held his nose, his cheeks puffing out as he held his breath too. The tips of his ears turned red and he squeezed his eyes shut but the sneezes only became silent rather than stopping. Raven sighed, reached down and scratched her fingers through his hair.

It worked, the sneezes vanishing.

"I thought that only worked on hiccups," Cyborg murmured to Starfire behind his hand.

"Or Beast Boy," Starfire said with a quiet giggle.

"Check in in ten minutes," Robin said.

"What do we do if we find him?" Beast Boy asked.

Robin ran a hand through his hair. "Call for backup. See if you can get him to talk. If we knew why... it would help. Tell me anything he says, it'll all add up eventually."

"Okay."

As Cyborg and Beast Boy went down their respective tunnels Robin handed Starfire a small pouch. "Bugs and mini cameras. Let's get some eyes on this place. See if you can find any of his."

Starfire nodded. "Very well."

Robin made to move away and head down the tunnel he'd assigned to himself, but Starfire stalled him with a hand on his elbow. "Robin, I did not mean to do the spooking of-"

"I know that," he said. Patting her hand, he removed himself from her grip and leapt down on to the tracks. "It wasn't your fault. And at least we have a starting point now."

Raven snorted as Robin disappeared down the tunnel. "Some starting point," she muttered, wrinkling her nose. "Dingy, abandoned train station. What more could we want?"

"My apologies," Starfire said, emptying the satchel into her palm. "Next time I chase Red X I shall inform him to please chose a place to vanish which contains the comfy seating, ambient music, interesting pictures on the walls-"

Raven floated into the air, crossing her legs to meditate. "Herbal tea and zorkaberries-"

Starfire smiled. "Silken pillows."

"Sexy guys with palm leaves to fan us," Raven included.

"Oh, yes. That would be most glorious. The hand feed of peeled grapes by oil slick males."

Raven closed her eyes. "Now you're talking."

Starfire crossed to one of the tunnel entrances to hide a motion sensor and a camera. "Speaking of oil slick males..."

Raven cracked open an eye. "You have my attention."

"I wish to propose the 'Girls only holiday'." She pressed the small camera into the apex of the arched tunnel way, positioning it so it pointed into the station itself.

"Oh?" Both eyes opened now and Raven leant toward her, draping her arms on her knees in clear interest.

"I thought perhaps we could try the meditation moons of Tribuneous Nine-"

"Sold."

Starfire paused and turned her head toward Raven in surprise at the quickness of her acceptance. "But-"

"Meditation. Moons. Oil slick males." She ticked them off on her fingers, then in a business like fashion she returned to her meditation stance. "We should invite Bumblebee."

Giggling, Starfire floated to another tunnel. "That was my thought."

"You tell Beast Boy I agreed without you whining at me for a week and I am anything other than woefully agreeing to come along because you begged, I'll deny everything."

"Our secret."

Starfire searched in silence for a while, planting Robin's monitoring equipment in obvious places as well as not so apparent ones in the hope that while the obvious bugs might be found, the others would be missed. And even if Red X found any of the bugs, he'd be monitored in their removal and the Titans would have time to converge on this location.

Once everything was planted, Starfire stood at the tunnel entrance which was blocked by that concrete wall she'd discovered, running the scenario over in her mind as she looked for anything she might have missed.

"Your emotions are in turmoil," Raven said, breaking the silence. "Do you want to talk?"

Starfire chewed her bottom lip, her eye still fixed on the concrete wall. Raven always had sage advice, even if she rarely offered it. But there was something weighing heavily on Starfire of late and she felt she needed to talk about it. "Do you ever wonder what you shall do after?"

"After what?"

"After the Titans."

Raven stared at her. "You're thinking of leaving," she said in a flat voice.

Starfire dipped her head. "I have made several erroneous lapses in judgement of late."

"I wouldn't call them lapses."

"Regardless, I do not feel that I am... right... for the Titans any longer."

"Starfire, you fell in love. There's nothing wrong about love. And following your heart is not an erroneous lapse in anything."

Starfire blinked back tears. "Was it love?"

"As opposed to what?"

"Lust?"

"I doubt that."

"Loneliness then."

"You know what love feels like. Did it feel like love?"

One tear managed to escape. "Yes," Starfire acknowledged, telling the darkness rather than Raven. "He simply did not love me."

Something shifted in the darkness, a pebble clicked on the ground but all Starfire could see was a rat creeping along one of the train rails. She watched it skitter along the track, then disappear down a small hole in the wall. Regarding the hole with interest, Starfire quickly decided it was too small for Red X to disappear down.

They fell into silence again.

When it was apparent Starfire wasn't going to talk again, Raven did. "I knew you would, one day. Leave, I mean."

"Yes," Starfire agreed. "I do feel that it is time."

"Although we all thought it would be a lot sooner than this."

"We?" Starfire asked.

"Me and the idiot pair."

"Oh."

"It's been hard for you," Raven said, keeping her voice soft and compassionate, as if she shared Starfire's pain. In essence, she did share what Starfire felt. "Since Tokyo."

"Oh," Starfire said and wrapped herself in her arms at the mention. "Yes. Yes, it has."

"You've been in a holding pattern since then," Raven said. "It's only recently you've been breaking free. For all you think it was a 'bad thing'," she smiled and Starfire perked herself up, Raven was using her own words against her. "I think it actually did you some good. If anything, it gave you clarity."

She sighed. "I am tired, Raven. Tired of pretending all the time. Tired of hiding."

"Starfire, if you're not happy here, maybe it is time for you to move on. Just not too far, okay?"

Starfire tossed her head and looked over her shoulder at Raven. "Oh, my dear friend, I could never part from you for long. You and I share one heart."

Raven smiled at her. "Good."

Starfire looked back at the concrete wall. "_Benissimo_," she said softly.

–

_I found her! _

_I'm coming!_

… _Oh god. Help!_


	5. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note:** Things should be starting to make sense by now ^_^**  
**_

* * *

**Chapter 4**

_A radioactive monster._

_A radioactive slug monster covered in goo._

_A radioactive slug monster covered in goo, using said goo as a projectile weapon. _

_A radioactive green slug monster, covered in slimy goo, using sticky goo projectile weaponry which could fire off in any direction with little warning._

_A radioactive... you get the idea._

_And Starfire, with her immunity to radiation, was the only one who could battle it, let alone touch it._

_She didn't want to. In fact, she would have preferred just to let it continue on its rampage until it tired itself out. But her friends couldn't touch it, couldn't even get close because of risk of contamination. One drop was enough to burn skin, a splatter might kill them. It was all down to her._

_So the others herded the general public away. Removed the slugs food sources, which happened to be anything it could get to and slime over to eat. At least, Robin assumed it ate like that, anything it slimed over disappeared and the slug got bigger. _

_Cyborg was desperately trying to come up with a way of containing the slug (the scientists who created it were quite adamant about their wish to keep it alive for future study). But as Starfire led the slug around in circles to keep it contained to one region, shooting it with starbolts to keep its attention on her, Cyborg just became more and more frustrated with his inability to find a suitable substance resistant enough to the acid composition of the slug to coat the inside of the container he'd manufactured to hold the beast. _

_They were running out of time. The slug beast was eating through the road and into the ground beneath it in its hunt for food. Already there were huge divots in the street and Robin worried about the power cables and subway running beneath. Not to mention the sewer system, if it got into the water, its radioactive slime would end up everywhere. And that would be detrimental to everyone. Orders were to destroy it before that, no that anyone covered how she was to destroy it. _

_Starfire listened to Cyborg's frustrations over the communicator. Firing off another starbolt to coax the slug into another circuit, she suggested, "Please, perhaps I could lure it away from the city and into the wilderness and-"_

"_And what?" Robin snapped, the frustrations making him angry. "Release it into the wild?"_

"_Give it something organic to eat," Starfire replied. "It would do less damage to the surroundings then."_

"_But damage everything in between here and there," Raven pointed out._

"_We need to keep it contained," Robin said. _

"_If you have any other suggestions," Starfire said, another two shots to the slug to get it moving again. "I would be willing to hear it. The ground is beginning to bubble, I do not think we have much longer until it breaks through and the slug seems content to follow the paths it has already created for itself. I cannot persuade it to deviate."_

"_We could throw stuff down in the holes it's making," Beast Boy suggested. "Might buy us time."_

"_Or you could coat the inside of that capsule with xenthonium."_

_Starfire flicked her head around at the new voice. _

_Red X slouched on top of one of the neighbouring buildings near her. Just lay sort of draped on the awning. Torso propped up by his elbow, his other arm draped over bent knee, his other leg dangled off the building. He looked like he was posing for a magazine or photo shoot._

"_What's that?" Robin asked through the communicator. "Who's there?"_

"_Red X," Starfire said into the communicator._

"_What's he doing there?" Robin asked. "I'm coming."_

"_No, stay back," Starfire said, eyeing the slug creature. "You could be damaged." She cast two starbolts at the slug to make sure it stayed moving, then flew up to Red X. _

_He calmly held out his hand and she deposited her communicator in it. He closed his hand too early, catching her fingers between his and Starfire felt an odd little thump of her heart._

"_Watch the slug, cutie," he said and there was a humour to his voice. "Hullo kiddies."_

"_What are you doing here?" Robin responded._

_Red X shrugged. "Offering my services."_

"_Why?"_

"_Well," Red X drawled. "I was going to rob a bank, but the slug thing's congested all the streets and I'll be seen. Plus, this thing eats stuff, and you have Starfire herding it. I'm curious to see if it's going to eat her clothes." _

_Starfire eeped and drifted away from Red X who just laughed at her._

_Robin spluttered on the other end of the communicator._

"_The possibility never occurred to you?" Red X asked, completely blasé and at home teasing Robin._

"_Leave her alone!"_

"_Leaf a gnome? What help would that be?" He tilted the communicator away from his mask. "Really, I don't know how you do it, how can you understand him when he mumbles like that?"_

_Starfire pressed her lips together as she tried not to laugh._

"_Do you want my help or not?" Red X said._

"_Man, give me that," Cyborg snarled and there was static for a moment. Starfire took the opportunity to turn the slug and make sure it was still moving. "Red X, it's Cyborg."_

"_No really?" Red X said, laying on the sarcasm. "Wow, man, it's an honour."_

_Cyborg ignored that. "Xenthoium is too unstable to use."_

"_Uh-huh."_

"_... well... do you wanna elaborate?"_

"_You're the mastermind, not me."_

"_Thanks," Cyborg muttered, sounding put out. "That's very helpful. I'm so glad you came."_

"_You know what happens when you mix one part xenthoium with two parts rhidicorium?"_

"_Um. No?"_

_Red X shook his head. "That's a shame."_

"_Can't you just be candid?" Robin asked. "People's lives are at stake."_

"_Nope," Red X replied, popping the p. __"_Can't be seen working with the Titans. Got a reputation to uphold."

"_Even if that would work, the only source of xenthoium close is you," Cyborg said.  
_

"_Wow, that is a problem," Red X replied and sat up to dangle his legs over the side of the building as he watched Starfire. "Isn't that a problem, cutie?"_

_She smiled and shook her head at him. The slug was becoming hard to turn since she'd had her attention diverted by Red X. It kept trying to change direction and head for the nearly exposed power cables. _

"_What do you want?" Robin ground out._

"_I suppose a solid gold statue of me doing the Gangnam Style dance is too much to ask."_

"_Yes."_

_He heaved in a mock sigh._ "_Oh well. Next time I break into the xenthoium lock up, you let me."_

"_No deal."_

"_Well, then, you need to replace whatever you use."_

_There was silence on the other end. Starfire knew Robin was probably conferring with the others quietly._

"_Be careful, cutie," Red X called. "It's going to get you."_

_Starfire frowned, as the slug was no where near her, nor was she in trouble._

"_Okay, okay, deal," Robin blurted._

_Red X snickered and Starfire realised he'd tricked Robin into agreeing.  
_

"_We'll replace what we use."_

"_One last thing," Red X said.  
_

_Robin hesitated. "What?"_

"_You have to say thank you. Nicely."_

"_What?" Robin blurted, his voice rising dramatically at the end. Cyborg and Beast Boy could be heard laughing in the background._

"_Either that, or Starfire gives me a kiss."_

_Starfire turned to stare at Red X in shock._

_There was spluttering on the other end of the communicator._

"_You should see her face, kid," Red X said. "She wants me."_

"_Leave her alone," Robin said, grounding out his words. "All right fine, I'll say it. When we're done here."_

"_Deal." Red X saluted Starfire and vanished from the roof._

–

**Four days ago.**

"I can't believe you'd do this to me!"

"I did not do anything to you."

"What were you thinking?"

"R-"

"Get out!"

–

**Eight days ago**

The sonic blast smashed through the rickety roof, wood cracked and splintered and chucks fell the long distance to the floor. Cyborg lowered his gun, swearing quietly under his breath.

"Where'd you learn to aim?" Red X called down from the shadows under the roof. He vanished from one beam and reappeared on another. "Back of a cereal box?"

"That's it, keep wasting your power," Robin muttered.

"I wasn't aiming for you," Cyborg called. "Warning shot. Come down here and talk to us."

"I don't think so."

"Dude, you owe us that," Beast Boy called, squatting on the ground beside Raven. His hands were on the ground, ready to shift if needed.

"I don't owe you anything," Red X called.

"Each of you take an exit. Keep him in here." Robin turned to Starfire. "Toss me up there."

Starfire considered the rafters. "Since Raven and I can fly, should we not-"

"My responsibility. My suit. My choice to trust him. Give me a chance to talk him out of this. Or find out why."

Starfire didn't think Robin would have any better luck at discovering what Red X was up to. "Robin, you cannot take the blame for-"

"Just toss me. I got this."

Keeping her face expressionless, she cupped her hands so he could use them as a foot hold, then tossed him up into the rafters. He twisted mid air, grabbed a beam and scrambled on to it.

Raven and Starfire exchanged glances, Raven rolling her eyes and mouthing 'idiot' at her before they headed off to cover an exit.

Starfire couldn't see much, even with a starbolt held up for light. Just two dark figures scurrying around the rooftops, occasionally clashing as Red X allowed Robin to catch up to him.

She could hear their voices though, their conversation.

Why Robin didn't want them all to help, Starfire didn't know. It would be over much faster if he accepted help. All would take was Raven and Starfire to converge and Red X have no where to go. Not with Raven's powers and Starfire's speed.

If she could bring herself to arrest him.

She supposed though that if Robin could get Red X talking, anything he said was a clue. And perhaps that was what Robin wanted. More clues.

"You put that man in the hospital," Robin was saying as he bounded from beam to beam.

"He's a criminal," Red X replied. He swung under a beam, carefully avoiding Robin.

"So are you."

"So, what, if I were a Titan, it'd be different? He's a fucking drug lord, guilty of murder. Now they have evidence of that and he'll be kept off the streets, what more do you want?"

"Doesn't mean you get to beat the crap out of people without consequences."

"And what, the consequences are you lot chasing me?" Red X accused.

Starfire winced, dropping her eyes at being included in the 'you lot'.

"Yes."

"That's double standards," Red X said.

Starfire shook her head. They were just going around in circles up in the roof. Round and round the same beams, like two puppies chasing each other's tails. Her lips crinkled up. Now, there was an image. Two cartoon dogs suddenly flashed in her mind, each in a uniform, one Robin, the other Red X, constantly going and round and around as they chased each other.

Robin snarled, "No, it's not."

"And Batman never beats the crap out of criminals for information. Where's his fucking consequences?"

"Like I could ever tell Batman what to do."

"You're his 'partner', remember? It's your job. Anyway, the point still stands. If he can beat the crap out of people to get information, if _you_ can do it, and don't deny that you haven't, why the fuck can't I?"

Starfire glanced over at Cyborg, who was covering his eyes with a hand and shaking his head in dismay. Looks like she wasn't the only one exasperated with this exchange.

"I don't have to explain things to you. Tell us why you're doing this. We could help."

"There's not much difference between you and me," Red X taunted.

"I fight for the greater good. You steal in-between."

"Did you ever ask yourselves why I steal?" Red X replied.

"We're trying to help you. If you kill someone, there'll be no going back!"

"So that's the limit? Murder? Everything else is open season?"

"Girls," Raven snarked from her spot. "You're both pretty. Now, can you stop this? It's annoying."

"Oh, watch out," Red X teased. "You annoyed the empath."

"Permission to kick his ass," she asked, although her question was directed at Robin, she looked at Starfire when she said it. Starfire dropped her hands, releasing her star bolts and closed her eyes. She didn't want to see. Not any more.

A small pop of displaced air and she was suddenly pushed against the wall, behind a box of crates, hidden from view. "You know," Red X whispered, his hands resting on her hips and his chest against hers. "Tell me, do you think I'm justified? "

Starfire's heart was pounding, making it hard to answer. "The end justifies the means? Do you truly need me to validate you?"

He dropped his face until it rested against the curve of her neck. "I need you to tell me you understand."

"I do understand."

Hands slid around her back until he was cuddling her but she made no move to return it. Just stood there, wondering if the others could see. By Robin's incredulous tone and demanding calls out to them to find out where Red X had gone, he could not. "Then why aren't you staying away?" Red X asked.

"Because I do not approve. You are hurting people."

"I'm not hurting you." He cupped her face with one hand, pressing his mask to her temple. Her mind, playing tricks on her, imagined his lips there.

"But you are," Starfire whispered. She couldn't keep herself from reacting, her hand resting on his chest, feeling the thud of his heartbeat.

"Then go," Red X told her. "Get out."

Swallowing, Starfire shook her head. "I am not going anywhere."

Red X released her and took a step back. "It's your funeral," he said, and vanished.

–

_There's so much blood. Why is there so much blood? _

_Raven? Can you...?_

* * *

_**Author's Note 2:**  
_

___Rhidicorium_ is a made up chemical. 'Cause, not knowing the chemincal properties of xenthoium, I can't match it to something that might make it a good insulator. Had to make it up. ^_^  



	6. Chapter 5

_**Author's Note:** All things come to those who wait.**  
**_

_-For Pinku  
_

* * *

**Chapter 5**

_It was meant to be a language transfer. Just a simple little lip contact. Just like Robin's when Starfire first arrived on Earth and not at all like Robin's kiss in Tokyo._

_Except, his mouth did things to her that she hadn't expected. Asked and demanded and tempted her lips open and it suddenly was ____more__ than lip contact. So much more. _

_She didn't know what to do. Stop. Keep going. Stop. Feelings circled around her, pushing and pulling and throwing her every which way and she didn't know how to respond._

_All the loneliness, all the rejection and pain, it was all washed away, leaving her emotionally naked._

_When his tongue brushed her teeth, fire sparked down her lips, heat burrowed into her belly. She sighed against him, her hand creeping up to grip his shirt, coax him closer. The feeling was intense and she just needed to have more._

_He backed off. "Sorry. Sorry," he mumbled, ducking his head. "I shouldn't have."_

_She stared at him for a moment, her hand still fisted against his shirt. Did he truly think he could just leave her with only a taste? So simple to just tug him back over and place her mouth over his again._

_She'd thought the kiss made her burn before, but now he had permission… he'd just gone for it. His kiss was hotter, raunchier, he pressed against her, enveloped her being, set her on fire. She ____ached__._

_The skull mask slithered to the ground between them, flopping to the floor, while her arms snaked around his neck. His hand on her hip, he backed her up until she could feel the rough wood of the warehouse wall against her shoulder._

_His gloved hand danced against her stomach, the small of her back, her arms, brushed against her breast. No place was safe from his exploring. His knee fit perfectly between her legs, his other arm pressed against the wall from elbow to palm, keeping her wedged against him._

_And it wasn't close enough._

_He broke their kiss, his breath hot against her face. "I always thought you were feisty."_

_She couldn't bring herself to speak, clarity of what was occurring suddenly strong in her mind. Of what she, what they, had done. _

_Pent up emotions released all at once. With the wrong man._

_Only, it didn't feel wrong. It felt... different. But not wrong. She should feel appalled, but she didn't. He'd paid more attention to her in the last few weeks than Robin had in years. _

_How could something that fundamentally went against everything she stood for, feel so good? So... right. Right was the word, she wanted this. Somehow, she wanted it. _

_She licked her lips, her fingers tugging._

_The communicator, ringing shrilly in her pocket, startled them both._

_One moment he was hard against her, the next he was hiding in the rafters and she was left gasping and weak-kneed against the wall._

"_Tomorrow," he called from the dark. "Same time, same place. Leave the communicator behind."_

_She touched her tingling and swollen lips and wondered what she'd just done._

–

**Seven days ago.**

"It is beautiful."

"Girl, that isn't beautiful," Cyborg corrected. "It's _magnificent_."

"So. Much. Ice cream," Beast Boy said, wiping the drool on his sleeve. "We'll never finish."

"You'll never finish," Cyborg corrected, picking up his spoon. "Me, on the other hand, I'll be having seconds."

"Or thirds," Beast Boy agreed.

Starfire plucked a cherry and popped it in her mouth, stem, pip and all.

This little ice-cream parlour they'd discovered boasted no one had ever finished their Mega Sundae. Six layers of ice-cream, separated by five layers of cereal mixed with a sauces, a different one per level. Chocolate, strawberry, caramel, banana and mint, the whole concoction was topped with various fruits. The sundae fit into a large, transparent plastic bucket.

They'd ordered three.

One each.

Raven had given the three of them this look of utter distaste when they'd decided they were going to purchase the sundae buckets, but she'd still squeezed into the booth beside Beast Boy.

"Don't you help him," Cyborg told Raven sternly, stopping her from dipping her spoon into Beast Boy's bucket.

Raven just rolled her eyes at him and dipped her spoon anyway.

"You realise Starfire's going to win this, don't you?" Beast Boy told Cyborg.

"And she'll do it with class," Raven said and eyed Cyborg. "While you guzzle."

"I've been training," Cyborg corrected.

"Training in eating the ice cream?" Starfire asked.

"Better get started, I'mma gonna eat you under the table."

"That sounds like fighting words!" Beast Boy crowed, leaning forward eagerly. "C'mon Raven, you gotta do it."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Why?"

"Oh, please, Raven," Starfire said, clapping her hands together, gleeful. "You must be a part of this."

Cyborg braced himself, his spoon ready while his eyebrow waggled up and down at Raven.

Raven sighed dramatically. "Ready, set, go."

Forty five minutes later, Beast Boy and Cyborg were practically lying on the table in a self induced ice-cream coma while Starfire regarded them with pity and took another spoonful of hers.

"Really, they should know better than to challenge someone who has nine stomachs," Raven said, her nose buried in a book she had conveniently brought along.

"This is true," Starfire replied, scraping the bottom of her ice-cream bucket with her spoon.

"My stomach hurts," Beast Boy whined, leaning on Raven as he begged for sympathy.

Raven's eyes flicked from her book to him. "Your own fault."

"Uggggggg. Too. Much. Sweetness. Froze my circuits. Gimme meat anyday."

"Poor Cyborg," Starfire said, patting his shoulder.

Raven closed her book with a snap. "Come along, boys," she said, nudging Beast Boy. "Walk time. You'll feel better."

"Ew. Exercise," Beast Boy said, staggering up.

Raven looped an arm through Beast Boy's to help hold him up."Walk it off."

"We gotta come back tomorrow," Cyborg said, hauling himself out of the booth. "I'm going to do this if it kills me. My picture will be on that wall. Oh yes. It will."

"Depends if we're still here tomorrow," Raven mentioned.

"We'll be here. Otherwise I'll just take the T-ship."

"Coming Starfire?" Raven asked.

"I have not yet finished," she replied. "I shall join you shortly."

Beast Boy and Cyborg stared at her. "Fly girl, you're insane."

Raven shook her head, smiled at Starfire and herded the boys out of the parlour.

After the girl in the shop had cleared Beast Boy half full bucket and Cyborg's mostly-empty-but-not-quite-and-now-ice-cream-mush bucket, and given Starfire a soda to drink while she finished hers off, Starfire quickly glanced around. Seeing no one watching her, she decided to be silly and stuck her face into bucket and used her tongue to lick the bottom of the container.

Someone slid into the booth opposite her. "That's pretty impressive."

Starfire jerked her head back. Eyes widened in surprise, she licked her lips to clean them of ice-cream as she watched him relax, arm up on the back of the chair and his back against the window.

Plain clothes. Dark jeans. Red shirt. Dark glasses. Tousled hair. Just how she liked him.

In a panic, she looked around to see if anyone had noticed them, her hands clenching tightly against the sundae bucket. "What are you doing here?"

"Public place," Red X said, nonchalant.

"Yes, but-"

"You going to tell on me?"

Starfire released the sundae bucket and pushed it aside. "What do you want?"

"What? No greeting this time? No nagging?"

"You made your point abundantly clear."

He removed his arm from the back of his chair and clasped his hands together on the table. "Yes, but you don't seem to be listening."

Starfire shook her head. "You cannot play the games now-"

"Besides, I thought you said you _wanted_ a date."

She stared at him, dumbstruck.

"Said it was a crime, actually. If my memory serves. Using my own words against me. For shame."

"Um..."

"Can't hurt to try it once."

Starfire narrowed her eyes. "So this is the pity date, yes? After everything? You believe a date will placate me?"

"Who said I wanted you placid?" he said, smirking. "I seem to recall-"

"Do not," Starfire snarled, resisting the urge to dump her soda on him. "I am not, as you say, in the mood."

"Why are you making this hard?" he asked. "I just thought we could share a meal."

"No."

He frowned.

"Because you will try and convince me, again, to get the Titans to leave this city. I will not do that unless you are willing to completely share what is occurring! You have asked me to trust you, but you will not offer me the same courtesy in return. What am I to think?"

She watched him turn his face blank, like he'd done so many times before. It only served to irritate her further.

She snapped. "You told me you did not wish to do the dating, that what we had was purely physical. That is fine. But do not come to me now and offer this. I have already... I cannot." She shook her head, blinked away the tears which filled her eyes. "I will not do this again. I will not wait for something which might never occur. If you are adamant there is nothing between us, then I need the clean break."

No change in his face, or his voice. "Okay."

All the anger wanted to deflate at his offhanded acceptance of her terms, but she would not allow it to. "Fine," she said and shoved herself away from the table. She stalked out, her head held high, determined not to crumble. She would not allow this to effect her, not like last time. She was stronger now, more determined. Careful not to break the door to the parlour, she strode out into the street.

Hands curled into fists, she concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and put some distance between her and the thing causing her pain. She could collapse later, if need be, but for now she simply wished for Raven and her companionship.

He was suddenly in front of her, appearing almost the same as if he would one of his teleports. His eyes were intense beneath the sunglasses although his face was as blank as it was in the parlour.

Starfire glared. "I have had enough-"

Still stony faced, he cupped her face and kissed her.

Confused, stunned and uncertain, she froze. He didn't stop, tilting his head and coercing her lips to move with his. Soft and gently, lingering. A kiss filled with passion and the promise of something else. The hope swelled inside her. Unconsciously, her hand slowly rose from her side and-

"Starfire?"

_Robin_.

Startled, Starfire jerked back away and turned her head. Robin stood a small distance away from them, a look of disbelief and horror on his face.

Dread filled her, her heart pounded and her knees felt weak. Robin didn't know Red X's face, only Starfire had that privilege, but seeing the boys together couldn't be good. Red X lived to antagonise Robin, he wouldn't be able to resist.

"What's going on?" Robin asked, eyebrows raised.

"Well, howdy, my name's Woody," Red X announced, suddenly sporting a drawling Texan accent. "You must be Robin."

Robin's eyes narrowed. "Yes. What of it?"

"This 'ere lovely lady just consented to a date, so I be hoping her boss will give her some time off."

Starfire's mouth dropped open.

"Is that true, Starfire?" Robin asked.

Impulsively, Starfire shook her head and Robin's expression darkened. He crossed the small distance between them, took Starfire's arm and pulled her away. "Yeah, I didn't think so. That looks like harassment. Leave Starfire alone or you'll answer to me." Still holding her wrist, Robin turned on his heel and stalked away, forcing Starfire along with him.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the smirk on Red X's face. He gave her a two fingered salute and turned, disappearing into the crowd.

Turning back to the direction Robin was pulling her, Starfire touched her lips with her fingertips, wondering what just happened. She was hurt, confused and used by Red X, a jumble of emotions that she felt she would have little chance on sorting or even controlling unless she could have some quiet and a chance to talk to Raven.

Robin didn't give her that chance. "Really, Starfire, I think you've been on Earth long enough to know when you're being played."

She blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Some guys will do anything for a kiss."

"But-"

"You need to be more careful."

Starfire could see he was in full lecture mode. "Robin, I-"

"Just be thankful I came along when I did."

That was enough. Starfire jerked her hand out of Robin's grip. "I am perfectly capable of protecting myself," she snapped, stopping on the footpath.

"That guy was all over you," Robin said, thrusting his hand out back toward the way they'd come. "And you were doing nothing."

"Maybe I did not wish to do anything about it," Starfire said, lofty. "I am allowed to kiss whomever I like."

Robin gave her a patient look that bordered on condescension. "We're heroes, Starfire. We discussed this. We can't have distractions like-"

"You may have decided _you_ cannot have distractions," Starfire snapped. "But I never agreed to that. I am perfectly willing to have them."

Robin's head reared back as though she'd struck him. "But-"

Starfire felt like she was at breaking point. "Also, while we are on the subject, you never discussed it with me. You simply told me and assumed I would agree. You cannot expect me to never search for a suitable mate."

So many thoughts were suddenly occurring to him, Starfire could see them flit across his face. "I... didn't know you felt that way."

She huffed and folded her arms on her chest. "Now you do."

His face filled with remorse and he reached for her hand. "Starfire, I-"

The communicator shrilled.

"Goddamn it," he muttered while Starfire borrowed Raven's eye roll. "We'll discuss this later."

"Very well," Starfire replied curtly. She doubted they would, she doubted anything would come of her outburst. Nothing ever seemed to help. Sad truth about her life at present seemed to be nothing would ever change unless she did.

It was about time she changed.

It wasn't until later she realised Red X had planned the entire exchange.

–

"_I don't know. I'll try."_

"_God, Starfire. Not her. Not her."_

"_B, help me get this off her so Raven can work."_

"_Oh god."_

"_Beast Boy! Concentrate. We gotta lift this."_

* * *

_**Author's note:** A few of you will recognise part of this from tumblr. It's been modified to fit with the story. =)  
_

_Also, Beast Boy is a vegetarian, not a vegan. He eats ice-cream. He's done that before in the show.  
_


	7. Chapter 6

_**Author's Note: **Hehe.  
_

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"_Raven, I have done a bad thing."_

_Raven opened one eye. "No, you haven't." She closed her eye. "If you did a bad thing, you wouldn't be feeling so happy about it."_

"_Well, potentially it could be bad, but it was also very nice, and very nice things should not be bad, but I fear that it was still morally wrong for me to do this thing and please, I require your advice, have I done a bad thing?"_

_Raven blinked several times. "All that, and I'm still not sure what you think you've done and why it would be bad."_

"_I kissed Red X."_

"_Ooookay..." Raven said, dragging the word out._

_Starfire was off in a rush. "Well, technically, he kissed me, but I did not make any protest whatsoever so it could conceivably be construed that I kissed him back, and indeed I did, because it was most enjoyable but now I feel as though I should not have because it is the Red X and he is not exactly the most moral person but he wishes to see me again tomorrow and I think I would like that-"_

"_Starfire, breathe. Hold it."_

_Starfire sucked in a breath and held it._

"_Good. Now let it out. Slowly."_

_Parting her lips, Starfire let the breath go._

"_Good. Now." Raven unfolded her legs from the lotus position and stood. Walking the small distance to her bed, she sat down, patting the bedspread beside her in invitation._

_Starfire darted across the room and floated down until she was sitting beside Raven._

_Raven wriggled to get comfortable. Then, "You kissed Red X."_

_Starfire nodded._

"_And you liked it?"_

_Starfire nodded again._

"_So, what's the problem?"_

_Starfire twisted her fingers nervously. "It is Red X."_

"_So?"_

"_So... Robin... I... it is bad, yes?"_

_Raven pursed her lips. "Starfire, I'm going to be brutally honest. You ready?"_

_Starfire nodded. She straightened her back, clasped her hands on her lap and looked Raven square in the eyes._

"_Robin broke up with you."_

_Jerking, it took all her willpower to keep looking directly into Raven's eyes. "Yes, however-"_

"_Robin said he wasn't ready for a relationship." Raven, knowing this was hard for Starfire to hear, reached across and placed her hand over Starfire's. "That it was moving too fast."_

"_Yes, but that was-"_

"_And in these last two years, has he ever given you any indication he's ready now?"_

_Protest died in her throat. "No," Strarfire said, meek._

_Raven raised her eyebrow. "So, how long are you going to wait for him?"_

"_Well-" Starfire considered._

_Raven silenced her with a steely look._

"_I am... not?" Starfire asked._

"_No. You're not. You shouldn't have to. That's not fair on you."_

"_But-"_

"_You liked the kiss, right?"_

_Starfire nodded._

"_And you like Red X?" Raven asked, sceptical.  
_

_Starfire twisted her fingers nervously."He is... most nice, once you know him. He is funny and considerate and I find myself looking forward to the moments we spend together. The attention he pays is most flattering."_

_Raven gave her a disgruntled look. "Red X? Really?"_

_Starfire giggled nervously and nodded. _

_Raven rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You can sure pick 'em." She regarded Starfire with interest now. "To kiss you, he would have had to take off the mask."_

"_Yes."_

"_When have you been spending time with him?"_

"_On my patrols. Sometimes he joins me, others he is waiting when I finish. Sometimes he is not there but lately I have been disappointed when he is not."_

"_And does he treat you well? You don't think he's trying to play you?"_

"_I do not think so," Starfire said, considering. "There is no indication he has any other intent, but I am..." She paused. "He is a criminal."_

"_Exactly."_

"_But he has also helped us on more than one occasion."_

"_Yes."_

"_I will be careful."_

"_Good." _

"_Do I tell Robin?"_

_Raven hesitated and chewed her lip. "Do you really think it's any of his business? You're just starting, you don't need his disapproving eye on you. He doesn't have any say in who you date. Not any more."_

_Starfire took a while to answer as she thought that over. "No. He does not."_

_Raven squeezed Starfire's hand and plastered an eager look on her face. "Now, tell me, what was it like?"_

_Starfire beamed. _

–

**One day ago.**

"Now, if we were to take this knife and slice-"

"Cut me again and I will kill you."

–

**Five days ago.**

"You have five minutes," the guard at the door said. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Robin said and closed the door.

Starfire took up a position by the window, her hands clasped in front of her. She never took part in these interrogations, just was present to provide support. All of them were.

Beast Boy sat in the chair in the corner, Raven sitting on the arm of the chair and he rested his hand against her the small of her back. Cyborg helped himself to the patient notes while Robin went to the side of the bed. "John Luke," he said, rolling his eye. "Yeah. Right."

"Hello, my name is Robin, I'm the leader of the Titans. I just have a few questions about the man who attacked you."

The man on the bed was littered with scratches and bruises. One black eye, a cut above his temple held together with clips, one wrist broken. His torso was covered in bruises but as Starfire's eyes lingered over them, comparing them to what she knew of human anatomy, she didn't believe any vital organs where at risk. He smirked and Starfire saw his teeth were intact. He was well enough now to answer questions. Whatever Red X had done, the man would recover.

Not that she was excusing what Red X had done.

The armed guard was only because John had been left with overwhelming evidence of several unsolved crimes, so he was being detained until investigations were complete.

"_Not telling you a thing_," the man responded. "_I plead the fifth_."

Robin frowned, then glanced over at the guard, who shrugged. "He speaks English with the doctors, but the moment we ask him about the attack, that's all we get."

Starfire blinked. She'd understood him perfectly.

"Did you get a translator?" Robin asked.

The guard nodded. "One he refused to speak to."

"What language?"

Starfire tilted her head. "_Why do you plead the fifth?_"

The man's head snapped to hers, his mouth dropping open. "_You understand me_?"

"_Of course_," Starfire replied.

"You understand him?" Robin asked.

"Yes," Starfire replied. "He says he is not-"

"_If you speak it, you must be one of us._"

One of whom? she wanted to ask, but she knew better than that. Being able to speak the language he spoke automatically made her one of whoever it was. Sometimes mistaken identity was the best route to information. John thought she was part of his group, perhaps even higher up than him. If she played on that, she could get him to talk and Robin needed information. She would need to act, present herself as criminal underbelly too. Starfire pressed her lips together and did her best to appear nonchalant. "_You will answer Robin's question_."

John gave Robin a scathing look. "_I don't speak to his kind._"

"_Then speak to me,_" Starfire said, stern. "_What do you know of the man who attacked you_?"

"_Not a lot. Calls himself 'Justice', but his name's Red X, right? He's been attacking a lot of us recently._"

'Us' possibly meant the gang this man was part of. One he assumed she was part of. "_What information was he after_?"

"_He wants information on the Big Man_."

That sounded like a title. Starfire's interest pricked.

"Starfire?" Robin asked.

She waved her hand at him, dismissing him in what she hopped to be a brusque manner. Insect, you are small compared to me, shut up. "_The Big Man? And you provided this information_?"

"_Of course not,_" John blurted, horrified. "_Do you think I'd still be alive if I blabbed_?"

Starfire allowed her eyes to drift to the guard. "_What information did you provide him with_?"

John's eyes flicked between her and the guard. "_Wait. Wait. You're one of the elite, aren't you? But you're a Titan."_

Starfire raised an eyebrow and tried to look menacing. "_What better cover can you think_?" she asked, bluffing.

John pushed himself up higher in the bed. A bead of sweat trickled down his face. _"I swear, he got nothing from me."_

"Starfire?" Robin asked.

She flicked her eyes to him and made them flash green briefly, hoping he would get the message. Robin straightened and took a step back, his brow furrowed but remained silent. Beside Starfire, Raven rose to her feet, lifting her hood and took up a position just behind Starfire. Inwardly pleased, Starfire realised Raven understood what was occurring and provided menacing backup.

She needed a name. Any name. Something before John Smith became suspicious. "_What is your designation_?" she asked. "_And that of your subsection_?"

"_My subsection_?"

"_Your... gang. Clearly you are not high enough in the organisation to warrant being trusted with any real information."_

It was the right thing to say, the man immediately tried to prove his worth. _"Hey! I'm high enough! High enough to have reported to Octave Bonnot himself!"_

Starfire smirked, quite pleased with herself. "We may leave now," she said to Robin. "I have a name."

"Good," he said. "Tired of this place anyway."

"Oh. Shit," John blurted. He went pale.

"You were most helpful," she said, breezing toward the door.

"They'll kill me!" he said. "They'll _kill_ me!"

"Double the guards," Robin said to the officer beside the door as he followed Starfire out. "Make arrangements for him to be moved. We might need him again."

"They will not truly kill him, will they?" Starfire questioned after the door had been closed.

"Depends on the name," Robin said.

Quickly, Starfire told him what had occurred in the room, why she'd done what she'd done, and the name she'd been given. Robin smiled, proud. "Well done," he said when she was finished. "Very clever."

"I did the right thing, yes? Should I have stayed and followed the ruse through?"

He patted her on the shoulder. "Certainly did. No, we got a name, any more and he might have started giving false information and then we'd have to sort thought that. You did good. Let's get back to the hotel and we can do some research."

"Very cool," Beast Boy commented as they walked back to the T-Car.

"What was?" Starfire asked.

"The way you acted in there." He grinned. "Scary cool."

"Oh. I thank you."

"What language was that?" he asked.

"French."

Beast Boy frowned. "That wasn't French."

Starfire blinked. "It was not?"

He shook his head. "Only 'cause Monsieur Mallah spoke French, I had to pick some of it up so I could translate when spying on him."

Starfire frowned. "Oh."

"Doesn't matter, you kicked tail!" Beast Boy crowed and held the door open for her, holding up his hand for a high five.

As Starfire filed toward the car, she wondered just which language Red X had given her.

–

Sitting at her hotel room window, Starfire watched the day turn to night. Laptop open in front of her, she ignored what was on the screen in lieu of watching the sunset. Curled up on her chair, she rested her hands on the arm and stared out at the pink and golden clouds.

The language she'd been speaking to the man in the hospital wasn't on any Earthen database that she could tell. But then, she seemed to be having difficulties writing it down, the language didn't seem to have a written form. That was an instinctual part of the language transfer, the written word as well. Glancing at the papers on the table, she sighed at her many attempts to spell the words in the hope she could match it. But nothing worked.

It wasn't uncommon in the grand scheme of things for there to be only verbal languages, but that didn't seem to be the norm on Earth. Not any more at least. If it was an ancient language, why did Red X know it and why did he insist it was something as simple as French?

Perhaps he never expected her to find another person who spoke it. Or perhaps he hadn't truly believed her ability to learn languages through lip contact.

It was a genuine language, however. Whatever it was, she'd been able to learn it.

Alien? Perhaps. She certainly wasn't current in her knowledge of alien languages, being away from Tamaran for long. But Red X wasn't alien. He was human.

More and more questions. Beside, what did this have to do with-

A soft knock at the door interrupted her musings. "Yes?"

"It's Robin, can I come in?"

"It is open," she replied.

"Hey," he said, smiling at her as he opened the door.

She sat up, looking at him in surprise. "Pizza?"

He grinned at her. "I thought we could have dinner together. There's a few things I need to discuss with you."

Dropping both feet to the ground, she closed her laptop and pushed the papers aside to make some room for the food. "Of course."

"Been doing some research of your own?" he asked, sliding the pizza box on to the table. Handing her one of the soda cans he carried, he placed his on the table and angled the pizza box so they could reach it. He didn't sit opposite her, like she expected, instead he dragged the chair around so they could sit side by side.

A little confused, she took a slice of pizza. "Yes, I am attempting to determine what the language I spoke today was."

"Don't know where you got it from?" Robin asked, frowning.

She smiled. "Well, I am certain I did not get it from you," she said, attempting to inject some humour and cover the fact she knew where it came from.

"Been going around kissing random guys?" Robin asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

"Weeeeeeell," she said, drawing out the word. "It did not necessarily have to be a guy."

He laughed. "True."

"But, I have had random lip contact with a few people," she said. "Like when we went Germany and we needed the language. I had thought perhaps I may have picked up more than one dialect, but I cannot seem to find a match with the language in your Earthen databases."

"Do you think it might be an alien language? You know a lot of those, right?"

"I thought that."

"And?"

"And... I am looking. It is a slow, ardours task, the language I spoke does not appear to be a written language, which makes it difficult to find a match."

"Sounds like you could use a break."

Starfire nodded and took a bite. "Yes, that would be most agreeable. How goes your own research?"

"It's all compiling now. Computer's been going all day, thanks to you we have a solid lead. The name you gave us, as far as we can tell, is a man who's believed to be the mob boss of an underground organisation."

"A mob boss?" Starfire asked.

Robin nodded and swallowed his mouthful of pizza. "The Bonnots. It's a local group, they've got ties in most things in Skip and a few other cities around. But they're also pretty secretive, the police here have never gotten one to talk and they've lost many agents trying to infiltrate the organisation. Until you. Octave Bonnot is now on the top of the most wanted list."

"But why would Red X be hunting this man?"

"Well, he obviously knows something we don't. I can think of any number of reasons, but what concerns me is he's going after him alone. Perhaps he wants to overthrow the organisation, become the new Bonnot."

"Perhaps," Starfire replied, not agreeing with that theory at all. She smiled, trying to keep Robin from thinking too much about it at present since she didn't really want to discuss Red X. "I am glad I was of assistance."

"You do more than help," Robin said, dropping his pizza piece back into the box. Wiping his hands on a napkin, he said, "You're an integral part of our team. We wouldn't be anything without you." He sounded so matter of fact, Starfire wondered if he'd rehearsed it. Or if she'd somehow given him the perfect opening into whatever he wished to discuss with her.

The smile died. "Robin-"

"Starfire," he said, interrupting her. "I know there's been a lingering... tension, I guess you could call it. Between us."

She swallowed.

"And I know that's my fault."

Starfire didn't say anything, just sat there with a limp slice of pizza in her hand as she stared at him.

"I'd have to be blind not to see what it did to you. There's been so many times I wanted to take those words back." He placed his hand her thigh, just above her knee.

Starfire made a squeaking sound.

His lips twitched up and he gently took the piece of pizza out of her hand, placing it back in the box. Taking her recently de-pizza-ed hand in his own, turned them both until they were face on.

"I wanted to say I was sorry."

Heart thudding rapidly, she swallowed again so she could speak and even then, it just came out a croak. "Robin?"

"And, if you wanted, I thought we could... you know... try again."

She was stunned into silence. All her years wishing he'd take back those words that had hurt her so much, here it was. Out in the open. He was sorry. He wanted to try again. He was ready.

She didn't know if she was.

Robin took her silence as acceptance, it seemed, because he leant toward her and kissed her. His hand cupped her neck, tugging her closer. He was gentle, unhurried. There was no demand there, just tentative exploration, an asking. Did she? Could she? Was there still hope?

Her lips moved with his, after all, she'd wanted this for so long.

But now... now it felt wrong. Felt like a betrayal.

Why now? Why now of all times? Was it because he'd overheard what she'd said to Raven and hoped to convince her to stay by offering her this now? Was he so concerned about losing her that he was finally willing to make himself vulnerable?

And did she want that? If his kiss was only because he thought she'd leave, or worse, to keep her from dating other people, did it really mean anything at all?

She pulled back, her eyes filling with tears. "Robin, no."

"No?" he asked, looking hurt. He removed his hands from her as an afterthought to her words.

She scrambled to buy heself some time. "I... I need... I need to think."

"Oh... right. Okay." He nodded, not looking at her now. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

Feeling terrible, she touched his arm. "My apologies, I-"

"Hey, no," he said, smiling again. "No apologies. I sprung this on you. After all this time, I should've known you needed to think. Time to see if you could trust me with your heart again."

Starfire nodded.

"I'd really like it if you did," he said, his smile the one which used to make her heart melt when she was younger. "Anyway... um... enjoy the pizza. I'll see you in the morning." He rose, heading to the door. "Night Star."

She watched him leave. "Goodnight Robin."

There was a knot of anxiety in her stomachs. Balls and balls of it, surging through her. It didn't allow her to think, only showered her with fear her life was about to crumble. She wasn't at all excited about this, just dread. After hearing Robin's door click closed, she counted to a hundred, concentrating on her breathing with each number.

Then she bolted from the room and banged on the door of the room beside hers.

Raven opened with a surprised look and Starfire fell tearfully into her arms. "Oh, Raven, I have done a bad thing."

–

"_It's all my fault."_

"_YOU!"_

* * *

_**Author's note:** Ops.  
_


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_There was no dating. No movies or dinner or strolling through the park hand in hand. She didn't intentionally keep it a secret, it just worked out that way. He certainly seemed to enjoy the secrecy. Teased her about it on occasion._

_She never knew when she'd see him next, if this patrol he'd be there, if the criminal they were about to fight would be him, when he'd next sneak into her room at night and rough hands would trace her body while his lips would kiss her awake._

_She thought perhaps the thrill of not knowing added to the addictive nature of their relationship._

_If it could be called a relationship._

_In truth, she did not know. She had no concept of a human relationship, not really. Her brief romantic relationship only really provided her with a concept of what not to do._

_What she saw in movies did not seem real enough, she couldn't equate it with what was occurring now. What was a normal human relationship anyway? Everyone was different. And she was an alien and the particular way they conducted themselves felt right. Felt Tamaranian. _

_When the kisses and the touch started to request more, she allowed it, revelled in it, when his hand caressed her body, she in turn discovered his. How to gasp. How to moan. How to thrill. How to tease. _

_How to beg._

_She wanted to be with him. In so many ways. _

_They talked. Not about their relationship, but about other things. Why he did what he did. Her family. Her sister. Things that helped them understand. _

_Tamaranians proclaimed their love with their bodies as well as words. If she felt it, she spoke it. Perhaps that was why her relationship with Robin had failed so dramatically. She'd taken that failure too much to heart it seemed. _

_Humans need words. Humans need affirmation. She never told him how she felt, only showed him. But he never told her either._

_He became distant. Thanking her for the tumbles, like it hadn't meant anything to either of them, and then vanishing into the night. Purely physical, he said. _

_So she tried to tell him she wanted more. In that warehouse, after a particularly satisfying meeting, the remains of handcuffs around her wrists, she'd mentioned the only crime they'd committed was him not asking her out on a date. (Raven had been most unimpressed to hear about that particular liaison. Items spun around the room, candles lit themselves and the TV in the common room blew. Nevertheless, by a certain someone's expression the following day, Raven found some solace in it.)_

_After that, she didn't seen him for two weeks. Then, when she did, he broke off what they shared._

_It was Robin all over again._

_She was stronger this time. Prepared. Hearts could be mended after all. She'd done it once, she could do it again._

–

**Four days ago.**

Heart beating in her chest so hard she was sure any moment it would fly free, Starfire knocked on Robin's door. She and Raven had spent the night talking and she knew what she had to do.

"Hang on!" he called from inside and she thought she heard the bathroom door creak. Fumbling and muttering, then the lock clicked open. "Starfire! Hey! It's kinda early."

She blushed and averted her eyes, the roof was most interesting, because if she looked at the floor, her eyes would have to sweep over his mostly-naked-and-only-covered-by-a-towel-held-together-very-loosely-by-his-fist body. He was still dripping water from his shower, the only thing he'd had time to put on was the mask. "My apologies," she mumbled. "I shall return later."

He grabbed her arm before she could leave and dragged her into his room. "No, it's cool," he said, eager to see her. "Just give me a sec."

She lingered in the little foyer of his room while he vanished into the bathroom. There were papers strewn across the table by the window, his bed unmade and the laptop in the middle of it still set up properly. The printer he'd set up was printing off various pictures, fuzzy surveillance looking photos. There was a pin board attached to the wall at the head of the bed, almost full with various notes and strings connecting people. Walking into the room, she trailed her fingers across the top of his bed sheet, wondering.

She was so nervous her fingers were shaking. Silently, she berated herself, she really should have accepted Raven's offer to be here too.

Robin came out of the bathroom with his pants on and towelling his hair dry. "I'll be glad when we're out of here and back home," he said, nodding to the pin board. "It's so cramped in here."

Starfire nodded. "Indeed, there is not enough wall for you to cover with your musings."

He laughed. "Exactly. So... I'm glad you came," he said and headed toward her.

Her heart leapt to her throat and she took a step back.

Noting her movement, he stopped and frowned. "What's wrong?"

She clasped her hands together so tight her fingers hurt. "Robin... I... um... I think perhaps- I do - we should... um... I do not believe it would be prudent for us..." She gulped and finished her babbling in a rush. "Icannotbewithyou."

His shoulders went back a little in surprise. "What?"

She made herself slow down. "I cannot be with you."

"Why not?"

She blinked, not expecting that to be his first question.

He ran a hand through his hair. "We always said... I mean... I know it took me a long time to... you said you'd be willing to wait."

"That was two years ago."

"It's not that long," he protested, staring at her.

"It is. Things have changed. I have changed."

"But there's still a chance for us," he insisted. "We can be together now."

She swallowed and braced herself. "I have been seeing someone." She wrinkled her nose. "I think. It is complicated."

He went very still. "Seeing someone?"

Starfire nodded.

He swallowed heavily, his voice breaking when he spoke. "When did this happen?"

"It started approximately three months ago."

His face twitched as he tried to work that out. "But-"

"Did you truly expect me to wait for you?" Starfire asked, twisting her fingers.

"Yes, of course I did!"

"Why? For how long?" She shook her head in disbelief. "You have never given me any indication you were even considering starting again. It has always been the same. Even when we spent time together, you would ask me to dinner or for a walk, then, at some point in the evening, you would remind me of duty and how we must put that first."

"But-"

"And now, the only conceivable reason I can think of for this sudden change of heart is that you fear you might never get the chance to be with me."

Robin closed his mouth and dropped the hand which was reaching toward her.

Starfire's heart filled with pain as her fear was validated. She closed her eyes and let her head drop down. "That is true then," she mumbled, disheartened.

"It's not-"

"Then what has suddenly changed to make you believe you are ready?"

"Why have you been stringing me along?" he countered.

Starfire tilted her head in confusion. "Me? Stringing you? You are not string, why would-"

He waved his hand. "You've been leading me on. Making me think I had a chance with you."

"I did not. I have always conducted myself in the same way I have before. You made it quite clear anything else was unacceptable."

"You allowed me to kiss you yesterday! Why am I only hearing about you dating now?"

Somehow this was going wrong, she could sense anger bubbling beneath the surface. "Why should I have to inform you of details of my personal life?" she asked, bewildered.

"Because we're friends!" Robin yelled.

"You have not divulged all details of your life to me. Why are you getting so angry? You broke up with me!"

He stabbed his finger at her. "You told me you loved me two weeks into our relationship!"

Why was he bringing that up now? "That is my culture. If I feel it, I say it. I did not think there was anything wrong."

"Well, believe me there is," he ground out. His hand were clenched, his whole body rigid.

"I know that now," she replied with a nod. "The speed at which you came to the conclusion I was not what you wanted-"

"I never said I didn't want you-"

"You said you were not ready-"

"Batman was coming! Things were going too fast! You were pushing-"

That was news to her. "How? How was I pushing?"

He threw his hands in the air. "You don't- you just don't tell someone you love them that soon into a relationship!"

She couldn't help but get angry too. If he was going to yell at her for something that wasn't her fault, she wasn't going to take it. "Well, I know that now! Perhaps too well. Indeed I have learnt from my mistakes with you."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means Red X does not even know how I feel for him because I fear he will do the same thing as you did."

Robin looked like she'd slapped him. "Red X? You're dating _Red X_?"

Starfire gulped. She hadn't meant to let that slip. Not yet. "Was," she said. "I think it has ended."

"You think? You think? After all the crap he's pulled lately and you only _think_ it's ended?" Robin went red. "I can't believe you'd do this to me!"

"I did not do anything to you."

"What were you thinking?" He smacked at his head with his fingers to illustrate.

"R-"

"Get out!" His hand thrust out in the direction of the doorway.

Starfire clenched her hands into fists. "No."

"That's really low, Starfire. Dating him to get back at me. I didn't know you were such a bitch."

"You listen to me," she snarled, suddenly very angry. "Not everything is about you. In fact, nothing in this is about you. You are not the centre of my world, you _chose_ to give that position up. I did not date him to get back at you, it simply happened. Even if I was not with Red X, I would not be so quick return your affections again."

"You said you loved me," Robin spat.

"You can fall out of love," Starfire replied and watched those words rippled across his face. "You. Hurt. Me," she told him, making her voice as harsh as she could. "That is not easily repaired. I have spent two years doing the getting over you. I will not allow you to hurt me again."

"Yeah, well, you hurt me too."

"That was not my intention."

He scoffed at her. "Yeah. Right."

"Do you truly believe I am that vindictive?" she asked. The pain in her chest was physically manifesting itself now, tightening and making it hard to breathe. "That I would plan and wait for you to ask again, just so I could say no?"

Robin looked away.

She would not cry. She would not. "If you believe that, if you can think that little of me, then yes, I will leave."

"Good-"

"The Titans," Starfire finished. "If you and I cannot come to some sort of understanding, I will leave the Titans."

Robin was shocked and utterly gutted. "You'd go that far?"

"It has been coming for a while," Starfire acknowledged. "I will leave you to think about this before you say something you regret."

He slumped down on the bed, hanging his head. "You'd really leave?"

"Yes, Robin," she said and headed toward the door. "It is something I have thought of."

"Why?"

She spun to face him. "Why? You dare to ask me why?"

"Aren't you happy here?" he asked, woeful. His whole posture looked defeated, and it drained some of her anger, but not all of it. This argument was a long time in coming.

"Happy?" she scoffed and it turned into a rant. She threw her arms around as she paced in a circle. "Happy? How could I be happy when you constantly reminded me I was not good enough for you."

"I never said that."

"But that is how you made me feel. Every day. I was good enough to be your friend, but never enough to be anything more. I _wanted_ to be more, Robin. I wanted that with everything I am for such a long time. You would not let me. Why are you so surprised now?"

"Are you happy with him?"

"What do you care?" she spat.

"I care. I never stopped caring, Star."

She deflated, her back against the wall and stared up at the roof. "I was."

"But not now?"

She shrugged, a completely human gesture. "I am at as confused as you are regarding his recent behaviour. He is constantly pushing me away, but then he does something and it gives me hope."

"He's stringing you along," Robin said, matter of fact. "Keeping you as backup."

She rolled the back of her head along the wall until she was looking at him. "Like you were?"

"No," Robin refuted immediately. "I wasn't." He frowned, then he slumped. "At least, I never intended it to appear that way."

"It appeared that way."

"I'm sorry."

"I know."

"Why didn't you wait, why couldn't you just wait?" he lamented.

"This is not my fault."

"When did we lose our friendship?"

Starfire slid down the wall until she sat on the floor. "I think it was gradual."

"I didn't even notice."

She didn't tell him she thought that was not surprising. "It is not lost," Starfire said, trying to salvage something. "Just different."

"Is there any chance for me?"

Starfire looked over at him. "Oh, Robin."

He gave her an eager, puppy look. "'Cause if there is, I'll wait-"

"No, you will not."

"I would."

"I do not want you to."

"But-"

"Robin."

"Do you still love me?" he asked.

Starfire sighed.

"Cause if you do, even the slightest bit, I can make it grow again." He sounded so sure. "When he leaves you for good, you'll-"

"Stop." Starfire closed her eyes and they fell into an uneasy silence. Nothing but the hum of the air-conditioner and the sound of the printer.

There was the sound of rushed movement and Starfire opened her eyes to see Robin throwing on the rest of his uniform with a quickness she hadn't seen before.

"What are you doing?"

He didn't answer her.

"Robin?"

Nothing. Not until his belt was clipped securely around his waist and his feet were clad in his iron-topped boots. "I'm going to find him."

Starfire's jaw dropped. "What? Why?"

"He's got a lot to answer for," he snapped and went for the door. It swung open to a startled Cyborg, his hand raised to knock. "What?" Robin snapped.

Cyborg was taken aback, looking between them with a concerned expression. "Ahh... everythin' all right?"

"Yes. What'd you want?"

"We found him."

Robin glanced over his shoulder at Starfire and smirked. "Perfect."

Starfire got to her feet, but Robin moved out the door and closed it behind him. There was a couple of beeps and then the door locked. Starfire was there in a moment, her ear pressed up to the door and jiggling the handle. It refused to move. "Robin?" She banged on door. "Robin, allow me out!"

"Man, what are you doing?" Cyborg asked from the other side of the door. "Star's in there."

"I know. Make sure she stays there."

"What are you, insane? Where are you going?"

"Something I gotta take care of."

"Robin! Do not dare leave me in here!" Starfire bellowed and kicked the door.

"Easy, girl," Cyborg said. "You'll break it."

Starfire shrieked to release some stress. She spun, looking for something she could break in frustration. Her eyes alighted on the pin board behind the bed.

"Give me a sec," Cyborg assured her and she could hear his arm beeping. "I'll get you out."

Starfire strode across Robin's room and stood on his bed, fully intending to tear his precious pin board to shreds out of spite.

Then a photo caught her eye. All the anger whooshed away, like air escaping from a balloon. Instead she felt a tickle of fear travel down her spine.

"Star, you okay?" Raven called through the door. "What's going on?"

Starfire plucked the photo from the board and held it in trembling hands. "Oh, no."

–

"_I didn't mean for this-"_

"_It's your fault-"_

"_Robin, calm down-"_

"_You've killed her!"_

* * *

_**Author's Note:**  
_

_Forgot to add, the 'meeting' referenced in the beginning, is up on tumblr. It doesn't quite fit squarely within the scope of the story, since it was written first, but it's there for the smut if you want it. Called Forbidden Fruit (and Pinku's drawn a couple of sexy pictures to match it). _

_To find it, go to my tumblr (kryallaorchid . tumblr Drabbles) (remove the spaces), that will bring up a link of all the short stories I've put on tumblr that are not on here. Enjoy.  
_


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

_Then everything started and she began to see maybe this wasn't her fault. He was push-pulling. Caresses in the dark, telling her to leave, asking why she didn't. Something in his voice. Something hidden. Something which asked her not to leave, not to let this go._

_He needed help. He just couldn't ask for it._

_He was still reaching for her. She just hoped she'd be there to catch him._

–

**Still four days ago.**

"A warehouse," Beast Boy complained. "Why is it always a warehouse? Why can't we ever fight in an arcade?"

"I don't think we're here to fight, Gar," Raven said softly, nodding at Starfire. "We're here to witness."

"Oh. Right."

Starfire barely acknowledged the exchange. She'd retreated, fallen back on training, surrounded herself in a warrior's shield. No emotions getting in, no emotions getting out.

The last time she'd been forced to do this was to escape from the ship bound for the Citadel. Hide all the fear, all the pain and torment, all the knowledge of what was going to happen to her and concentrate on escaping.

She didn't think there was any escape this time.

"You don't have to go in there," Cyborg said, his hand on Starfire's shoulder. "We can-"

"I do," Starfire murmured. "This is my mess."

"Star-"

She patted his hand. "I am sorry you were thrust in the middle."

"It's not your fault," Cyborg soothed. He cuddled her from behind for a moment, his big arms encircling her.

She rested her head on his shoulder. "I should have told you."

"Well, I ain't disputing that," Cyborg replied. "But all I ever wanted was for you to be happy." He smiled at her and squeezed her shoulder as he stepped away. "'Sides, it isn't as much of a shock as you think."

Starfire blinked and looked at him.

Beast Boy grinned. "Hickey's, Star. You got them. Wasn't hard to tell you had someone. And you're not as good as acting as you think around Red X. Take it from me."

Starfire huffed. "You could have said something."

"B and I were just waiting until you felt ready to tell us."

Starfire looked at Raven who smiled and shrugged. "We're here when you need it."

"Thank you," Starfire replied, humbled.

A yell and a crash from inside the warehouse spurred them all into action. Cyborg broke down the door with his foot, Beast Boy leaping inside and changing his form mid-air into that of a snarling tiger. Raven was moments behind him as they made a dramatic entrance. Starfire lit her hands and stalked into the warehouse.

Robin and Red X had been going at it hard. Robin had a bloody lip, one sleeve torn from his shirt and his mask had a slice in it, blood dripping down his cheek. Red X's suit was torn across his ribs, his chest sporting a cut which looked like it had come from a birdarang, his mask had gaping hole in it and he was limping badly as he forced himself upright from where Robin had thrown him into a crate.

Starfire gasped at the sight of both them, covering her mouth with her hands.

Red X laughed, a harsh sound. "So. I finally see what's got you all riled up." He placed an arm across his ribs, doubled over, his other hand supporting his weight against a wooden beam. "Told him, huh?"

"Rob, man, what are you doing?" Cyborg said, ghat.

Robin gritted his teeth. "Taking care of business."

"Like you take care of Starfire?" Red X leered. "Don't you just love the little heart-shaped mole on her inner thigh? It's so nice to lick-"

Starfire gasped while Beast Boy and Cyborg looked uncomfortable.

Robin launched several exploding discs at Red X. "You bastard-"

Red X disappeared and reappeared a short distance away from him. He wobbled, clearly favouring his leg but that didn't stop him from tormenting Robin. "She makes the most amazing noises-"

Robin dragged his bo staff out and launched himself at Red X. "You're _lying_-"

Red X lifted his hands to block, those two red x's from the back of his hands materialising to act as a shield. Robin's bo staff clanged against it. "It's not my fault you can't please a woman-"

"Shut up!" Robin dropped to the ground and swept Red X's bad leg out from under him. Red X hit the ground on his shoulders, lifting his hands to catch the end of the bo staff as Robin brought it slamming down.

Red X kicked Robin in the side, yanking the staff to the left at the same time. "She wouldn't come to me if you were a _real_ man-"

Robin cast several bombs, right at a still lying down Red X, then back flipped away. Straight into Raven's shield. It roped around him, dragging him away from Red X as another arm of her power plucked Red X away from the bombs.

They exploded and when the smoke cleared, Raven held both boys in the air.

"Funny," she said. "Taking care of business sure looks a lot like you're beating the crap out of each other."

"It's fine. He's a criminal after all." Robin spat a mouthful of blood on the ground."It's _allowed_."

Red X's laughter turned into a coughing fit.

"Turn yourself in now, Red X, and I'll be lenient."

"This is lenient?" Red X asked. One eye peeked out through the broken mask and fixed itself on Robin. "Nice. I'll remember that."

"You're only making it worse on you."

"Bring it, bird boy."

Raven looked at Starfire. "Did they miss the fact that I have them both?"

"I don't think that matters," Beast Boy said, pointing at them with a hand.

Red X and Robin had resorted to using what little movement they had to throw birdarang and x-shuriken at each other.

With a wrinkle of her nose, Raven dropped them back on the ground. "All yours," she told Starfire. "Go get them."

Starfire interposed herself between them before they could begin fighting again. "Stop it!"

"Starfire, get out of the way," Robin snapped and shoved at her shoulders.

She was as immovable as stone. "No."

"This has been coming for a while," Robin snarled, cracking his knuckles.

Red X sneered. "I'll tell you what's been _coming_ for-"

Starfire levelled a hand at Red X, her starbolt ready. "Shut. Up."

Red X did so, teetering on his leg.

"Starfire, move," Robin demanded. "That's an order."

Starfire levelled a starbolt at him too. "You back down, shut the fuck up and allow me to talk."

Red X crowed with laughter while all blood drained from Robin's face at Starfire's intentional use of a swear word. "That's my girl."

Starfire's head snapped toward Red X. "I am not _your_ girl. You made that abundantly clear. You will cease this testosterone addled feud, there are bigger problems which require solutions. X, you have a lot to answer for. Let us start with this." She withdrew the photo she'd taken from Robin's wall from her belt and tossed it at Red X.

He didn't even bother to catch it. It slapped on the ground at his feet with a lonely, pathetic sort of sound. He stared at it for a long moment. "Where'd you get that?" he asked in a flat voice.

"It does not matter where I acquired it, what matters is I did. _This_ is why you are here."

He was silent.

"Deny it. Tell me it is not."

Robin leant around Starfire as he tried to see the piece of paper. "What is it?"

She placed a hand against Robin's sternum and pushed him back behind her and away from Red X. "Stay out of it."

"This concerns all of us," Robin snapped and grabbed her arm to push it away from his chest.

"It does not."

"He's here, beating up criminals and putting them in hospital and we were asked to stop it. It _does_ concern us."

"Not this," Starfire said.

"You're _protecting_ him?" Robin blurted.

"In this instance, yes."

Red X snarled, "I don't need-"

"He's using you, Starfire. Using you to get to me. To get to all of us. He's played us all, that's what he does. And you're the only one gullible enough to believe his lies."

Starfire ignored that, no matter how much the words sliced at her, and kept her eyes on Red X, willing him to answer.

"Starfire, it's none of your business," Red X said. "I told you to stay out of it. You're not a part of this."

"You made me a part of this. You said 'they' were here. I misunderstood which 'they'. If you had only said." She shook her head. "_What is this language_?" she asked, switching to the one he'd taught her.

He almost fell, he was so shocked. "Tell me you haven't used that. Tell me you didn't use that!"

"You never mentioned I should not. Yes, I have. That is how we discovered Octave Bonnot."

Red X swore viscously.

She stalked toward him, stooping to retrieve the picture. "I can help." She shoved the picture at his chest. "You know I can. They need-"

"I don't need your help and I don't need you!" Red X pressed the button on his belt and reappeared in the rafters. He grunted as he did so, kneeling on the beam as his leg seemed to collapse.

Starfire made to follow, the need to aid him now so great she couldn't help it. If only she'd realised why he was doing all this sooner.

Robin cleared his throat. "If you go with him, you're out. No longer a Titan."

Beast Boy let out a breathy, "Dude," while Cyborg's, "_What_?" resounded around the warehouse.

Starfire halted and closed her eyes. Her hands balled into fists.

"If you choose him, Starfire, that's it. No coming back."

"Man, that's messed up!" Cyborg called. "You can't do that!"

"She's not choosing me, dumbass," Red X snapped. "She's got this glorified notion stuck in her head she's needed. She's not. You can have her, I don't care."

"I don't _want_ your casts offs!"

Their words couldn't have hurt more if they'd stabbed her directly in the chest.

Starfire opened her eyes and looked at Raven. Her friend stared back, tears in her eyes, but she nodded. Just once. One small nod and they both knew what it meant.

_Do the right thing for you. Make yourself happy. I'll still be here._

Her gaze drifted to Cyborg, to Beast Boy. Brothers and friends. She wouldn't lose them, she could see the anger in their faces at Robin.

Without her permission, her gaze slid to Robin. She tried to memorise his face, call up the image of his smile when they were younger. When the world seemed so bright and happy and she had a place no matter what. Her eyes slipped up to Red X and the tears finally spilled over. Unclipping her communicator from her belt, she held out her hand to Robin. "I once told you I could not live in a world where we must fight."

Robin swallowed. "Star-"

Her hand turned to Red X now. "And I once told you, there were other ways to be free."

She tilted her hand and let her communicator slide from it.

It smashed when it hit, scattered pieces all over the place.

"All this talk of choice," Starfire whispered as she raised her head, stared into empty space. "I think it might have been nice if one of you had chosen me."

With a heavy heart, she turned and walked away from both of them.

–

Cyborg crossed his arms and glared at Robin as he made his way back over to them after Starfire had disappeared out the back of the warehouse. "If you kick her out because of this, I'm going too."

Robin double took, frozen mid step. "What? You'll side with her."

"I'm not taking sides. But I think you're being a douche right now. Man, we've all been where Starfire is."

Robin frowned. "We have not."

"Jinx," Cyborg said, matter-of-fact.

Beast Boy cleared his throat. "Terra."

"Malichor."

"Yes, but-"

"Kitten," Cyborg countered.

"No, that doesn't count," Robin snarled. "That was to save the city. Besides, he's using her."

"He's not," Raven told him.

"Beside, that's Star's problem then, isn't it?" Beast Boy said. "And, dude, some of the things you just said... I don't think Star'll forgive you for them."

Robin's mouth snapped closed and he flinched. "Oh, shit. What'd I just do?"

"You're an idiot, you never think before you speak and 'boy blunder' doesn't even begin to cover the crap you just pulled," Raven said. "Making her choose like that, it's just going to push her further away."

–

Time doesn't stop for a broken heart. It keeps forging onward. Push and push and move with it or break. And even if broken, time doesn't stand still. It doesn't wait. It can't be stopped, can't be bent.

So Starfire moved. One foot ahead of the other. Just walked all over Skip, her mind a cloud of thoughts.

At times, Raven joined her, a silent shadow, a small hand in hers, an anchor to the world. One who didn't require words or feelings or expression. She was just there. There was a green dog who wandered at her feet, fur brushing against her leg and wide grin to guide her way, or the cybernetic arm across her shoulders, but she didn't respond to any of them. She couldn't.

Somewhere, she knew, Robin was kicking himself. She saw him, out of the corner of her eye, small flashes of regret, but he didn't come close. Just watched. She was glad of his distance but she wondered if his remorse had more to do with his need to solve the case than fix her feelings.

She hated herself for thinking that.

She hated that it all had gone wrong. That it was her fault it had. That there was nothing she could do to mend this. Her world was fragmented.

She didn't see Red X anywhere. Not that she expected to find him.

As the sun sank, she asked Raven to make them leave. She needed some time to be by herself. Make Robin go too, she'd tell him what he wanted to know in the morning, but for now, she needed privacy.

Raven studied her with scepticism, but Starfire was adamant. She'd be all right. Besides, any criminal stupid enough to cross her path tonight would find they picked the wrong night. Her strength was not gone. She still had a lot of righteous fury.

Just her flight was unusable.

She'd wander the streets, linger in the gardens and think.

When Raven asked if she'd be returning to her hotel room, Starfire looked into her friend's eyes and lied. Even with the lie, Raven kissed her cheek and disappeared.

Starfire did linger. She watched the stars. She ran her hands over the flower hedges which trimmed some pathways through the city. But ultimately, her feet brought her where her mind had wanted to go.

She found herself in that same dingy, broken down train station from a week ago. It hadn't changed. There didn't look like there had been any movement in the station at all. The monitoring bugs had shown no activity. Except now, she guessed, with her presence they'd be lighting up.

Robin was probably watching.

Anger, hot and blinding, she lit her hands and fired off starbolt after starbolt. Destroying all the bugs and cameras in the area without so much as a sound. She didn't want him to watch, didn't want him to see.

Then she sat on the edge of the station and let herself feel.

The clock ticked over to midnight.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Three days ago**

Sometime not long after midnight, Starfire heard voices. Not loud ones, just a gentle murmuring, a whisper down a tunnel.

She'd migrated down on to the track itself, into the dark where the tears staining her face were harder to see and that's really the only reason she felt it. A rumble. A knock, vibrating up the track itself. Like someone had stepped on it or dropped something on it, somewhere near.

She wouldn't have paid any attention to it, considering the place was supposed to be empty, if it weren't for the fact the rumble came with the whisper of a voice.

Although she would have liked to remain curled up in a ball, nursing her battered heart, something made her move. Something made her follow the vibrations along the track, crawling and listening to the voices, until she was at that blank wall again. The concrete blockage that had stopped her the first time she'd been down here. The wall with the tracks still embedded in them. And the sounds were coming from beyond it.

She frowned at the wall, sitting back on her haunches as she studied it. And then almost hit herself when she realised what she'd missed.

Hologram. A hologram wall. Could he have been there all along, hidden behind the wall?

Testing her theory, she reached out to touch it. She hit solid but it was wooden solid, not concrete solid. Cursing herself, she hadn't even thought to check if the wall was solid when she was last here. It didn't take her long to find the small opening, the area where there was no wood to the touch. Clever, anyone throwing things at the barrier, would see it bounce off as it should, but only if you touched it would you realise the ruse.

Taking a deep breath, she crawled through it completely.

Into what seemed to be a self contained storage area. She was surrounded by wooden crates, stacked up against the barrier with only the smallest of crawl spaces.

The voices she could hear only got louder as she moved further through the boxes and Starfire's heart caught as she realised she recognised who spoke. It still echoed oddly, the words bleeding together. Finally, she entered into open space. A small living space by the looks. A mattress on the floor in the corner, a table, a small fridge spliced into what looked to be electrical cables.

And Red X, sitting at a laptop, talking to someone over video phone. His back was to the entrance crates, and when she stood, she realised she'd was right in the sight of whoever Red X was talking to.

Mistake.

The person on the screen, mostly concealed from Starfire's view by Red X's shoulder announced, "Who's that?"

Red X twisted to look at her. "Shit."

"You've betrayed us! That's a Titan!"

Starfire drew her arms toward her chest and tried to make herself smaller. "Oops?"

Red X spun back to the computer. "No, wait!"

"Never call us again!" The screed went dead.

Swearing rather viciously, Red X kicked back his chair as he spun to face her. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I... ah..." she pointed to the crawl space. "I found you."

Tearing his skull mask from his face, he yelled, "Do you know what you've done?"

She blinked at his expression, at the savagery in his face. "I-"

He stalked toward her and gripped her upper arm. "You've ruined _everything_!"

"But-"

"Get out, Starfire. Get out of my life. I want _nothing_ to do with you any more."

His anger infuriated her, the injustice of it, she hadn't done anything. So she hit him. Cast him halfway across the room by thumping him on the chest. He rammed into the table and staggered, holding his torso with one hand while staring at her. She bared her teeth and snarled at him. "Do not. Do not dare. Not now."

"Goddamn it, cutie, all you had to do was keep your mouth shut and be with him. You could've had everything you wanted. But you couldn't, could you? No, little miss perfect had to stick her nose in and ruin-"

"I did not _want_ him."

He straightened, his face going blank.

"You push and you pull and I go every direction. Your words say one thing and your body says another. You tell me _nothing_ and then yell when things go wrong. How am I to know? I have never been more confused than I am right now but I know one thing and I will hold on to that one thing with everything I have and I will not let it go."

Red X's throat worked. "What?"

She kept her gaze level on him. "I love you."

And there it was. Her heart bared open for all to see. No more hiding, no more secrets. If he wanted her heart, it was his.

"I love you," she repeated. "And I pray to _X'hal_ at this moment that I did not because I would never have allowed what you did to me to occur. I hate myself that I am seeking you and still hoping that perhaps we can be more. I know in my heart I should not be _here_ and I should not be _there_ or even on this planet. There is no place anywhere for me. But I am here and I love you and I cannot control it and it _hurts_."

He didn't move, frozen in one place, that carefully crafted blank face was all he could give her.

"I wished for you to know-" Starfire's voice cracked. "-before... it... I..."

He didn't move. Not toward her, not away. Expressionless statue.

Starfire closed her eyes to contain the tears. To be truly honest, she did not know what she expected.

A declaration of returned affection?

For him to run away and hide like Robin did? To make some excuse and leave her broken?

Was there really anything left worth salvaging?

Earthlings were so confusing. Hiding everything, never saying what they truly felt. Words and actions being two separate entities. Perhaps she would do better if she returned home to Tamaran, where her emotions would not be scorned but embraced.

She groped behind her, placing a hand on the crate for support. Keeping her eyes closed so she didn't have to see, she turned toward the small hole between the crates.

His hand closed over hers on the crate, his other hand gripped the back of her neck and a handful of hair. His pelvis pushed against her rear as he yanked her head back. "What do you want?" he asked, his voice husky.

Swallowing, she looked back at him, both hands on the crate. "Passion and freedom and you."

His gripped loosened, fingers stroking at her hair now, tenderly moving it out of the way. "Do you know what you're asking?" He ducked his head, lips to her shoulder, his eyes still on hers.

"I do."

The fingers on her shoulder applied a little pressure and she followed his coaxing, turning toward him. "There'll be no going back," he warned and pressed her to the crate.

"There is not anything left to go back to."

He swallowed. "No one's ever chosen me," he whispered and it was as close to a declaration as she was going to get.

Starfire smiled. "I have."

His mouth covered hers. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she responded with enthusiasm. Tight grip, he held her closer than he ever had before, squeezing the very breath out of her. Tongue exploring her mouth and, with a little jerk, he lifted her from the ground, arms still wrapped around her ribs so tight he was almost touching his own chest with his fingertips. Aloft, she wove her legs around his hips and he propped her up against the crates.

"You _stupid_ girl," he murmured. "Stupid, stupid, _stupid_," he moaned and ground his hips against her. "Oh, Star."

"Please," she whispered, then gave him the words he loved to hear.

With a moan, he lifted her away from the crates, staggered across the room and dropped them on his mattress.

–

Trailing her fingers along the edges of the plaster bandage on his otherwise bare chest, Starfire murmured, "Did he hurt you?"

"Nah. I'm tough."

"You were limping."

"Bastard got a luck shot on my knee, that's all."

"I am sorry."

Red X shifted. Lifting the hand of the arm currently trapped beneath her, he ran his fingers along her shoulder. "Don't be. Been a long time in coming. If it wasn't over you, it'd be over something else. I gave as good as I got."

"I saw."

"Did you _have_ to tell him?" he complained. "I was quite happy making sly innuendoes and laughing when he never got them."

"I do wish you would not tease him so much."

"Tough, cutie. It's the only way the bird brat and I can interact. He would've been suspicious if I started acting like he was my best buddy."

"Did you truly need to tell him about my mole?"

He frowned at her. "Hey, I was angry. He comes in, busting my chops, and I have no idea why. Fucked up my knee pretty bad, I had to ice it most of the day. It hurt. So I lashed out."

"Yes, but-"

"'Sides, I like the mole." He gave her a squeeze and ran his hand up her thigh and she knew he wouldn't apologise.

Starfire sighed and pressed her lips to his chest. "He kissed me."

"Oh?" he asked, off-hand.

"He told me he wished to begin again. I told him no."

"That was dumb."

She poked him. "Do not be mean. As I told him, even if I had not been seeing you, I would not return to him now."

"I'm amazed you think I actually care."

"You care," Starfire pointed out. "This is the first time you have held me afterward."

"You're at my place. What would have me do, tell you to get out?"

Starfire lifted her head away from his chest to look at his face. Was that the break up sex she had heard of? "Do you truly want me to do the getting out?"

Lifting his far hand, he touched her face. "I think I'm stuck with you now."

Starfire frowned, a little hurt. "If this is not what you wish for-"

He tugged her back down. "Don't be silly." Settling her back into his arms, he kissed the top of her head.

"X-"

"Let's leave the discussions on feelings for another night," he suggested. "Big day tomorrow."

"It is?"

"If you're serious about helping then, yeah. It will be. I 'spose there's things to tell you."

She nodded. "I believe-"

"You're infuriating sometimes," he told her and bopped her on the nose with his finger. "Shut up and sleep."

He hugged her close and she listened to his heartbeat and then, in time, his quiet snores. Closing her own eyes, she slipped in to sleep.

–

"_You never said my device would be used to hold a snot-munching Titan_!"

Starfire frowned in her sleep, wondering why Gizmo's voice had invaded her dreams.

"A... oh my gawd... she's _naked_!"

Starfire was thrown into wakefulness as she was hauled from the bed by many hands. Hands around her ankles, hands around her wrists.

"Oh, boy, this is going on the website."

"What the _fuck_?" Red X roared, lashing out at those who grabbed him.

Starfire shrieked angrily, punching and kicking, teeth snapping perilously close to hands which held her. Something cold clicked around each wrist, but she had no time to see what they were. Summoning her strength and fury she lashed out and was suddenly encompassed in cracking energy, screaming in pain as energy coursed through her. It didn't last long, just enough to drain her strength.

"Told you mud-crunchers it'd work."

She was dumped face first on the ground, the men all stepping backward and away from her. Coughing, she tried to move and was hauled to her knees, her arms back so she could barely move them. Not willing to be subdued so easily, she called upon her powers again, only to summon the same incapacitating pain as before. She jerked, letting them go just as fast and panting, she hung her head.

Red X was forced to his knees beside her, his arms cuffed behind his back and a red mark on his face. Starfire snarled at the mark, throwing herself forward as she tried to free herself. She didn't make the mistake of summoning her power, trying to rely on other skills.

And was smacked across the back of the head with something hard. Vision spinning, she slumped and the men let her fall to the ground.

"Well, well. Now, isn't this intriguing." A strange voice, dark, ominous. Dangerous. Starfire felt the cold finger of fear slide down her back, a knee jerk reaction to what was going on. She had no clue but everything felt wrong.

Beside her, Red X grunted.

"My boy, you said she was a redhead, but you never said _this_."

"Leave her out of this," Red X snarled.

"You brought this on yourself, child. Did you really think you could play both sides and get away with it?"

"I'm not playing-"

"And yet, I hold the evidence right here in my hand. Red X, was it?" The man's tone was mild, not in the slightest curious. Starfire tried to raise her head to see who it was but one of the men shoved it back against the floor and put his foot between her shoulder blades. "Here I thought we'd be containing someone with superpowers, not an old friend in a suit. Still, it was lucky I hired Gizmo, look at the catch."

"I swear to God, you touch her-"

"Did you really think you could plaster a smile on your face and come back to the fold without me watching you? How stupid do you think I am?"

Through her hair, she could make out a tall, thin man in a blue pin striped suit leaning against a silver cane. Someone she'd seen before. In a picture.

"No favourites, son."

"I'm not your son," Red X spat.

"Hold him still."

There was another crack, the sound of something wooden hitting flesh and Red X grunted.

Reacting to that, with gritted teeth, Starfire summoned her abilities for a third time. This time she held them, allowing the pain to come with it, prepared to use it as a fuel. Starbolts flared in her hands, her eyes aglow, Starfire kicked out at the nearest male, catching him between the legs. He went down hard. Another kick to the standing let of the man holding her down, forced him away from her. Rolling, she pushed herself upright at the same time and racked her hands down Red X's arm until she reached the cuffs, then tore at them.

"Ho-sheet," Gizmo blurted and cranked a dial.

The pain increased tenfold. Shrieking and convulsing, the metal around her wrists so hot it burnt her skin, Starfire fell to the ground. In one last act of defiance before she succumbed to darkness, she starbolted Octave Bonnot in the face.

* * *

_**Author's Note:** No update until Monday (sorry, I know it's a bad place to leave it, but it can't be helped. So come back... Sunday night for Americans)._


	11. Chapter 10

_**Author's note:**_

_I'm going to explain something. Why I'm doing a Red X Starfire story, to be exact. I wasn't going to because I am not looking for sympathy but it seems that I've upset a number of people and I want to clear it up. _

_A month ago, my brother died. It was quite sudden. I am not coping with anything at the moment. _

_I write fanfic because it's a release. It's therapeutic. It allows me to work through my thoughts, vent, try new things, it's an escape. _

_If I tried to write a RobStar right now it will destroy the love I have for them. I literally cannot write fluffy or romance and I know I will force it. Perhaps that does show in this... As I don't want to demolish my love for the Titans, or destroy my own novels, I picked something to write about that I was quite 'meh, let's see if I can swing it' over. Well. No. Actually, I wrote RedXStar smut for Pinku because I felt like it and I wasn't thinking terribly much about the characters themselves, just writing smut. Then a couple of people complained about the pairing and I thought about the characters. I saw it as a challenge. I needed something to take my mind of my own situation. _

_I didn't expect to like the pairing as much as I have. I really do enjoy writing them. _

_I would still write this story, whether or not I shared it with anyone. Kater loathes what I'm doing right now, but she's still diligently reading each chapter as I send it to her and pointing out where I've blundered because she's a brilliant friend and she loves the plot. _

_So, yes. Perhaps I may not have thought everything through as clearly as I usually do. But everything is still thought through. I have reasons for absolutely everything that's in here, and things that are not in here. I am second guessing myself every chapter, because as always, I want to do things right. _

_I get that Secrets of the Heart isn't something people would really want to read. It's not romance. It's not fluffy and cuddly and people don't always win. _

_But it's what I need to write right now. _

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Three days ago?**

Waking had never been so as scary as it had been on the Gordanian's ship, but waking up in that holding cell came close. It was completely dark, not light at all except for a tiny sliver beneath what Starfire hoped to be a door. But the noise. Echoes, churning noises, whines, whirs and cranks, a constant chug-chug of noise.

"Greetings?" she called out, her voice sounding small. She cleared her throat and called again, but no answer was forthcoming. "Red X?" she called, her voice catching. "Anyone? Can you hear me?"

Pushing away panic, she tried to provide her own lighting but those bracers around her wrists immediately responded with a dose of electricity. No amount of tugging without using her strength helped and the moment she tried, they shocked her. She thought possibly she might be able to endure it, but then remembered Gizmo created them. He'd had time while she was out to refine them.

How long had she been out? Her mouth had an icky, cotton ball taste to it, like she'd been drugged to keep her under longer.

She wasn't tied down, there was cloth against her skin, some sort of harsh material, it covered her torso and she could feel it against her thighs. A man's shirt perhaps, by the buttons done up the front. She had something soft she was lying on, a mattress. No sheets, just a lumpy, spungy feel to it.

The walls, as she felt her way around, appeared to be made from rock. Brickwork, she could feel the jagged lines between the bricks. Cold and fuzzy in places, damp in others, the room she was in felt quite small. Some of the brickwork had crumbled in places and Starfire thought maybe if she concentrated, she could punch through one. Assuming she wasn't overcome with pain.

The floor was damp too, nothing on it that she could tell as she ran her hands over the surface. She kept her nose wrinkled hoping she didn't come across any unexpected surprises in the dark. Nothing. Nothing. And more nothing. Peering through the sliver of light proved uneventful, all she saw was floor. The door was bolted from the outside and as she ran her hands over it, she found two small slots, one at eye level and one at the bottom.

Kicking the door proved to be fruitless. So did climbing the walls, there was nothing she could find anywhere, no handholds and the toeholds were so flimsy, nothing more that the little space between the bricks.

Not knowing what else to do, she retreated to the corner.

She could escape, but she had no idea where she was or what they had done to Red X. They might hurt him if she tried. Besides, Robin always said if captured, try to find out what they wanted first.

She didn't think that mentality applied to this but waiting seemed like the right thing to do. For the moment. Perhaps if whoever held her grew complacent, they be more likely to make a mistake.

Darkness played tricks.

It contorted sounds, deceived the ears into believing anything, footsteps, voices, clanging machinery might be the rattle of a chain. It teased her eyes with flashes of light, things moving in the dark, glimpse of shadows and figures. Even in pitch black, there was enough light to conjure images. The senses can't handle being deprived and they make things up.

Starfire had been locked in the dark before. She'd been tied down, strung up, at the mercy of someone else. But this was a different experience because it wasn't just her safety she was concerned for.

Having not much else to do, she began to experiment with the pain. How much glow could she summon before it became unbearable? Could she survive on so little light shining from her eyes? Enough so the shadows no longer played tricks. Yes, she decided as the light cast across the room and banished a little of the darkness, she could survive the pain. It was like holding her hand over fire, far enough away and it was just warm, but the closer you got, the hotter you got. Eventually, she wondered if she'd just be numb to it.

There was a camera in the corner of the room. She hadn't been able to find it before because it was right up against the roof, but now from the small amount of light she could produce, it took form. It played tricks, she could only see it from the corner of her eye, not when she was looking directly at it.

She hated the dark. It made her cold, made her damp. Created fear and turmoil and worry. She bared her teeth at the camera, then, still looking directly at the camera the whole time, she sang the Tamaranian Song of Revenge. All two thousand verses. Including some of the hand actions required to complete the various moves she described in her song. When that was done, she translated everything into English, just so the song had the full effect and those who were watching would understand.

The camera remained silent.

The problem with singing the Song of Revenge is that it counted time. She knew exactly how long the song took to sing, how long she'd been trapped in the dark since she woke. Now her voice was all croaky and she wanted something to drink.

Starfire hated waiting. She hated being trapped. She hated the camera and it's stupid, lingering stare on her. Still looking directly at it, she stalked over, jumped and pulled the damn thing from the wall. In a fit of pique, she smashed it against the door and spent the next few minutes banging on it and creating that growling, animalistic cry which terrified the Gordanians so much.

It didn't help, but it relieved some frustrations. Then she decided that if she could give herself a little light, a little extra strength might get her through the door. Nothing was going to stop her getting through that door.

Not now.

Two seconds of strength, that's all she needed to turn the metal door into a twisted mess of metal. After that, came at least thirty seconds of pain, firing nerves through her body as she staggered out into the small hallway. Leaning against the wall, she panted and waited for the pain to recede.

No alarms. Strange.

There were other doors here though, four of them, three of them looked exactly like her mangled door and the fourth was most likely the way out. Perhaps if she was incredibly lucky... Falling on the closest door, she opened the little eye-level slat. "X?"

It was empty. So was the next one. So was the third.

Just her.

That was for the best, she decided. She didn't know what she would have done if the other cells were occupied. Unless it was with Red X.

She went to the main door, surprised to find it unlocked. When she opened it, she discovered why.

Men, five of them, all lounging around at a round table in the middle of the room. They were playing cards, there was a pile of money in the middle of the table. Some of them were smoking, Starfire was fairly certain they were all armed. All of them stopped what they were doing when she opened the door. Behind them was the only other door to the room.

"Greetings," Starfire said, smiling to put them off guard. "Please, may I use the facilities?"

They scrambled but Starfire was quicker. Although she couldn't use her strength, she was trained in many forms of combat. She charged them.

First, she kicked one of the chairs at the closest man, ducked another man's blow, then lifted upward to knee him. Another got a foot to the chest and a chair picked up and thrown at him. One man was punched in the windpipe, complete with an apology from Starfire as she spun to kick another man in the head.

Just enough to distract them and send them all off balance, while Starfire bolted for the door. She picked up a chair on the way, using it as a barricade while she opened the door, then threw it at them as she went through it.

Into a large factory.

Which explained the noise of machinery.

Closing the door behind her, she dug her fingers into the lock to mangle it, dealing with the pain which came with it. Her hands on the wall to support her, she hobbled along until it passed.

No workers she could see, everything in the factory seemed to be automated. She couldn't even really tell what they were making, long lines of machinery, mechanical arms, grated metal walkways running along the roof, covered belts, hot steam blasts and cold zones, but she didn't have time to look, not really.

She did spot surveillance cameras so she knew it wouldn't be long before people came after her.

She ran.

Bare feet padded down the pathway between the machinery, Starfire constantly looked for a way out, or another place to go, any clues on Red X's whereabouts. Because of the noise, she knew she wouldn't be able to hear anyone coming until they were close and thus was constantly looking behind her.

Someone's yell carried over the top of the machines and Starfire spun, looking for a source. She didn't find any, but panicked, she ducked down into a small crevice between metallic boxes. Pressing her back into the vibrating metal, she panted and waited, her eyes darting around. Taking a moment, now she had light, she studied the bracers around her wrists.

Simple metal, there looked to be circuitry encased inside it. She wondered if the circuit had to be completed before it would shock her, if she simply had to break a small part and she could use her powers, or if it didn't matter.

Couldn't hurt to try, there was enough space between her wrist and the bracer to get her finger inside it.

A shadow moved near her and she curled up tighter with her tiny space, the bracer forgotten. A man, dressed in black, with a gun. He had his back to her and she could tell he was scanning the machinery for her.

Launching herself from hiding place – it was easier to attack than wait for capture – she kicked the man in the back of the knee, grabbed the back of his shirt as he collapsed back toward her and tossed him.

The bracers disciplined her for using her strength even when she didn't mean to.

Starfire gave them a scornful look. "This is becoming tiresome."

"I see her!"

Starfire swivelled to see Gizmo and his four spider legs running along the top of one of the machines. Her heart leapt with hope, she could make him remove these bracers. Turning to face him, she lifted her fists and braced her feet apart. "_Gizmo_!" she roared.

One of the metal feet slipped and Gizmo gave her a panicked look for a second, then seemed to remember she was mostly powerless. "You can't do a stinkin' thing against me, you're all burnt out, stick-nuggets!" He landed in the gap between the machinery and advanced on her.

"I can do plenty, little one!" She ducked one of the metal legs, swatting another one with the back of her wrist.

His spider legs tic-tacked around her as he circled. "Charcoal-for-brains, I ain't so little any more!"

Dodging his legs was hard to do, since she couldn't fly. But they were in a confined space and he had to be very careful about where he stood or one of the legs would get trapped in the machinery. "No, however your insults have not improved with age. Where is Red X?"

Gizmo smirked at her, then stuck out his tongue. "Like I'd tell you."

"You will!" she commanded. She grabbed one of his metallic legs and, tapping into her strength, shoved it into the one of the moving parts of the machine beside her. Dropping to her knees from the pain, she watched as Gizmo floundered as the leg was ripped from his backpack. The machine whined in protested, but devoured Gizmo's leg.

The remaining three legs teetered, then started folding back into his backpack. Starfire moved, gripped Gizmo by the front of his shirt with one hand, the backpack with his other and tore the backpack from him to prevent him from using anything else. Tossing that into the moving parts of the machinery, she lifted Gizmo up until he was level with her face. "Where is Red X?"

"He's here, sweet thing."

Starfire turned her head. Octave Bonnot stared at her, leaning on his cane in his horrible pinstriped suit. Beside him, unmasked and belt-less, Red X stood in his costume. His face was a mess of bruises, his cheek swollen and one eye dark.

Octave lifted his cane and placed it on his shoulder. "I thought you said it would contain her."

"Yeah, well, she a dribble-sniffing Titan," Gizmo complained. "They don't count-"

"I would run, if I were you," Starfire told Gizmo, dropping him back on the ground. "From what we know, Octave Bonnot does not like failure."

Octave inclined his head in agreement. "Most of those who fail me end up dead."

Gizmo gaped at him. "Hey, you can't-"

"I'll consider the knowledge that your device causes her pain to be a satisfactory exchange for your life. If you get out of my sight."

Gizmo scrambled and slid on the floor as he bolted, but Starfire paid no more attention to him, her eyes on Red X. He wouldn't look at her, his gaze fixed on the ground between her feet.

Octave tapped Red X on the shoulder with his cane. "Fetch."

Red X gave him a scathing look.

"Fetch and I'll allow you to live. She escapes, you die."

Starfire frowned. "That does not sound like a very beneficial arrangement. We can both escape-"

"He escapes, she dies," Octave said, grinning at her with a charismatic smile. "Win-win situation for me. See, I'm a good judge of character and I wager you care enough about this boy to come quietly. And while I don't think your situation matters that much to him, I _know_ he'll do anything to keep his sister safe. So!" Octave tapped Red X on the shoulder again. "Fetch!"

Red X lifted his eyes to Starfire's and she closed her eyes in pain. "I shall come quietly," she murmured, lifting her hands.

"There's a good girl," Octave purred.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**Three days ago?**

"Chains? Really?" Red X asked Octave.

The man leant against the door frame of the cell. "Just a little incentive to make sure she stays put this time."

Red X turned back to her. "I told you to stay away," he whispered, too low for Octave to hear. She didn't look at him, not that it mattered since he was not meeting her eyes anyway. "You should've listened."

She glared at Octave over Red X's shoulder, while Red X clamped a manacle around her wrist. She'd be able to move small distances, unless she ripped them from the wall, but it was the principle of it. "It does not matter now."

Octave sighed and shifted his weight against the door, tapping his cane against his upper arm.

"You are a sad, small little man," Starfire said, snarling at him. "When the Titans find you, and they will find you, you will wish you had never been born."

"I'm not the one who did this to you," Octave said, grinning. "You can blame your boyfriend for that. They'll be looking for him, not me."

Starfire lit her eyes, full intending to eye blast him in the face regardless of the pain. Perhaps this time she'd do more than singe his eyebrows. Still crouching, Red X moved across her to her other arm, effectively shielding Octave from her. She narrowed her eyes at him and let her eyes dim.

Something pinched her palm and she became aware he was fiddling with her hand. Hand, not wrist. Glancing at him, he met her eyes briefly, then looked pointedly at her wrist. She followed his gaze and saw him slip something inside the manacle. Just tucked it there, she'd be able to shake it free.

A sliver of anticipation welled inside her.

"Passion and freedom," he murmured, looking at her eyes.

"And you," she replied.

He had a plan. He had to have had a plan. Some way to save them all, she just had to play along. Play the good, obedient girl.

"No whispering," Octave called. "No plotting or being sneaky."

"What are you going to do with me?" Starfire asked.

"That depends entirely on him," Octave said, gesturing Red X. "He does three last jobs for me, I'll let one of you go with each job. You. Him. Sweet little Violet. Free as a bird. Wipe the slate clean, no more debt."

Starfire didn't believe that for a moment and by the looks of his face, neither did Red X.

"He fails, you die."

"But the Titans," Starfire whispered to Red X urgently. "You cannot-"

"It'll be okay," Red X murmured. His hand touched her cheek then closed the distance between them to kiss her. Just quickly, once, twice on the lips, then he carefully crafted his blank look on his face and turned back to Octave. "Let's get this over with."

He was gone without a backward glance and Starfire was back in the dark. She waited, it wouldn't do to go straight for whatever Red X had left her with in case they were still watching her, but after a while, she couldn't help herself.

Shaking her wrist, she stared at the little device which fell from the manacle.

An ear piece.

Smiling to herself, she placed it in her ear and settled down to wait.

It was several hours before she heard a crackle on her earpiece. She'd been reciting the Tamaranian Song of Patience to pass the time, using a tiny amount of her strength to bend the area where the chain reached the wall to weaken them for when she needed to be free in a hurry. After all, the chains themselves would make good weapons.

"Star?"

She didn't stop the Song of Patience, but she made her tone questioning.

"They can't hear you. Keep your face away from the camera."

She flopped on the mattress, trying to make it look like she was going to sleep and turned toward the wall. "Greetings."

"Hey. Fucking hell, Starfire, why couldn't you have stayed away?" he ranted, "If you just listened, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"If you had explained to me, instead of doing the breaking up and pushing me away, I would have."

"I was trying to protect-"

"I do not need protecting. Where are you?"

"Staking out his first steal spot. I told him if I was going to do this, I had to do it my way."

Starfire was surprised. "And he trusted you?"

"Hell, no. I have enough power for three teleports and his goons are about a hundred yards from me watching. But I have my mask so they can't tell I'm talking."

"What are you stealing?" Starfire asked.

"Honestly, you don't want to know." He hesitated. "Star..."

"Yes?"

"The minute I break into this place, the Titans are going to be all over it."

"That is a reasonable assumption."

"I can't risk being stopped."

"Will you accept their help if it can be obtained?" Starfire asked.

"How can I get that without giving myself away to Octave?" Red X asked. "He's watching and I'm sorry, the Titans aren't the best actors. No. No more people at risk for me."

She was disappointed, her friends could help. Even if Robin couldn't bring himself too, Cyborg and Beast Boy were friendly with Red X, they would listen. "X-"

"I'll just have to be fast."

"What would you have me do?" she asked.

He sighed. "I don't know."

"Do you know where your sister is being kept? Perhaps I can-"

"I'm trying to find out. It's difficult, more so now, they're watching everything."

"X..." Starfire hesitated, then pressed on. "Are you certain she is still alive? You told me... you said there was a car accident."

Another sigh. "I thought she was too. My mom... I saw her after... That's what I was told, that Vi was gone too... but then- well- I got this phone call a few weeks ago. Sounded like her asking for help but there wasn't a lot of info to go on. I thought... if there was a chance... I had to find out."

"Then you need not put yourself through this, demand proof of her safety first-"

"He's still got you, Star."

Her heart fluttered.

"This'll buy us time," Red X said. "Just sit tight."

"I am not the damsel in distress. I do not take kindly to waiting."

"I'm aware of that. You kicked ass getting out of your cell. I just need... a day. At most. If I can't get some results, bust yourself out again and don't look back."

"I will not leave you."

"Starfire-" He sounded exasperated.

"Tell me about Octave."

Red X was silent, although she could hear his breathing in her ear. She could hear footsteps in her ear, indications he was moving so she remained silent. "That picture, how recent was it?"

"I do not know," Starfire replied. "Robin would know. She... appeared older than in the picture you have."

"If that's her."

Starfire acknowledged that with a small sound, not sure how to comfort him.

"What do you want to know about Octave?"

"He is the mentor you spoke of?"

"You could say that, yeah. I grew up under him. My mom was one of his whores for a while and he took a shine to me. Trained me up to be the best cat burglar in Skip." He sounded proud of that fact.

"Until you were caught."

Red X deflated. "Yeah. 'til then. He didn't help me out, wouldn't lift a finger, but when I got out of juvvie he was there, waiting. Said I still had a debt to pay and it was worse now because of the missed income. I told him where to shove it."

"Then they perished?" Starfire asked. He'd never spoken about his past like this and she was interested.

"So Octave said. Told me it was my fault and if I didn't want the same thing to happen to me, I'd keep working. I did until Robin made the suit. Then I saw it as a way to escape."

"How did you know it was Robin who made the suit?" Starfire asked, curious.

"Are you kidding me?" Red X blurted. "C'mon, every crook in the region knew about Slade and what he wanted. Octave was trying to sell my services to him when Red X appeared out of nowhere and stole my gig. I was sneaking into that compound to steal that chip out from under his nose. You guys got him first, so I saw the whole thing. I knew Robin wouldn't be returning to the suit after that." He was silent for a moment. "First time I saw you in the flesh too."

"Oh?" she asked, fishing for details.

"I'd never seen Octave so mad than when that chip was nicked by someone else." He chuckled. "Was an eye opener. Octave wasn't a big bad any longer. There was someone out there worse than him. Slade. Made it easier to leave. I had nothing left to lose after all. With the suit, I could just vanish." He sghed. "Guess I'm not as good as vanishing as I thought."

"Why?"

"Couldn't escape him. Can't escape you. Some thief I am."

There was a sinking feeling in her belly. "Do you wish to escape me?"

Red X was silent.

"X?" she asked after a few minutes.

"Star, you gotta be careful."

"I will be," she promised.

"Okay, I gotta start, I'll leave the comm open as much as I can, but..."

"I shall be quiet."

"Thanks."

"Good luck."

He chuckled. "Did you ever think there'd be a point where you, a Titan, would be telling me good luck on a heist?"

Starfire saw the humour in it. "No. I did not."

"Me either."

He didn't say much more. A couple of random cuss words, but mostly all Starfire heard was his heavy breathing, the sounds of his foot steps, some mechanical beeps.

"No Titans," he whispered at one point.

It was odd they hadn't come, but then Red X was trying very hard not to alert the authorities. Sometimes she wondered if he tripped alarms on purpose so they'd come chase him. "Perhaps they are searching for me."

"Maybe. Wouldn't Raven be able to find you easily?"

Starfire lifted her wrist and studied Gizmo's bracer. "That would depend on how Gizmo fashioned these restrains."

"Hmm... I'll see if I can find a way to get them removed. Ah-ha! Got it."

"Good."

"Now for my grand escape. Going to have to switch the comm off now, sorry. Getting out is easier than getting in and I know for a fact they can't see me right now. Can't risk the comm being found."

"That is okay."

He cleared his throat. "Right. Bye."

"Be safe."

"You too. Star?"

"Yes?"

"I..." He hesitated, then coughed. "If you see an opportunity to run... take it."

The earpiece went dead and Starfire sighed heavily.

There really wasn't anything she could do. If Red X's sister was alive, any action she might take against Octave would endanger her. He was right, there was nothing she could do but wait.

–

**Two days ago?**

Thirst was the worst of it. That and the need to use the bathroom. Then the hunger, nine stomachs were not pleasant when she was hungry.

No one had come in, the earpiece hasn't activated again. She didn't know if he'd been discovered, if he was safe, if her friends were even looking for her. So many unanswered questions.

Starfire felt so alone.

The room was cold and damp. She'd gotten little sleep at all, waking to every noise, every bump and murmur in the dark. It was impossible to tell what time it was. All Starfire could do was sit and wait.

And she didn't like that in the slightest.

Because her brain would not stop thinking. Worrying. About the future. About the past. What would become of her, of them. Was there a chance for her and Red X to have a normal relationship? A healthy kind? Dating. Dancing. Laughing together. Going to the movies and dinner.

It had taken her two years to put herself back together after Robin and then it had taken Red X months to wear down her defences enough to allow him in to her heart. And now, there was still a question of whether he even wanted to be with her.

What kind of life did she even want? She had no idea where Red X lived, if she would be welcome there.

She was an alien to this world, she knew very little outside the Titans. Sheltered was perhaps the correct word, but only in the way the world worked. Bills and electricity and phone lines, managing household budgets. She could learn that, but what could she do outside the Titans? Could she still help people? Would she be allowed to? An alien, not affiliated with any organisation, would they let her?

And then she realised, no. This was not being true to herself. It did not matter what other people thought, it mattered what _she_ wanted. What made her happy. She could not, would not, live her life on anyone else's terms but her own.

She'd find an apartment, she had some Earthen money. Move from the Tower into her own place, probably in Jump because she did like the city and knew it well and she did not want to move far away from Raven, Beast Boy or Cyborg. She'd get a job, she was very good at translating and people always needed help with that. Find some time to study and better herself.

She'd help people, because she could and she wanted to and she was good at that, but she wouldn't be Starfire of the Titans, she'd just be Starfire. Or Kori. She liked that. Just Kori.

If Red X wanted to be a part of her life in any sort of capacity, she could make room for him. But she would not depend on him.

It was as if a weight had been lifted when she came to that decision. Things were making sense in her mind, forming lines and pathways and a future all of her own. Smiling to herself, she closed her eyes and imagined what her first apartment might look like.

It would be small, because she had the whole of the sky to roam. Somewhere with a balcony. A sturdy kitchen because her Tamaranian cooking did tend to melt benches. A basket for Silkie. A couch, for kissing, perhaps, but certainly for friends who would visit to sit. A corner plant, why she was not sure because she normally killed plants but she wanted one. A doily, she didn't know what it was, but she liked the word, so she'd have one of those too. Normal, human things. Her very own bathroom, not one she had to share.

The door opened and Starfire blinked and shielded her eyes from the rectangle of light which blinded her. The chains on her wrists jangled as she lifted them.

"Starfire."

Her heart soared. "X."

With a hurried step, he crossed the room to her, crouching by her side, as pleased to see her as she was him. "Hey. How are you doing?"

"I need to use the bathroom," she said, smiling sheepishly.

He snorted and he reached down with a key to take off the manacles. "We have a small reprieve."

"A reprieve?"

Red X's small smile of humour faded. "A chance for you to use the bathroom and eat. Octave wants us to dine with him."


	13. Chapter 12

_**Author's Note: **The next few chapters are giving me some serious trouble, I've rewritten them half a dozen times and it's still not working to my satisfaction. So next update is delayed for a few days while I get this right. Enjoy the update._**  
**

_Also, Feifiefofum, I smell the blood of an anon. Did you forget to sign in?  
_

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Two days ago.**

A shower was blissful after her time in the cell, even if she had to have it under guard. She gulped at the water, trying not to drink too much less she become sick.

Red X was forced to stand in the bathroom with her, a gun to his head, if she made even a single wrong move, he was forfeit. It was obviously a staff bathroom, just a long row of showers and wooden benches in the middle, they didn't even leave the factory.

Octave had picked out a dress for her, as it had appeared he'd picked the suit for Red X. Although she thought he looked quite handsome, not counting the yellowing bruises to his face, it was clear he was very uncomfortable.

A spaghetti strapped, little red dress, as she discovered when she took it from the box. Completely not the kind of thing she would have chosen herself, especially since it clashed with her skin and her hair, and she had the distinct impression she was going to be shown off. Her only concession was she was allowed to weave her arm through Red X's on the walk to where Octave waited.

Red X didn't talk to her, that blank look on his face and Starfire began to realise this was how he coped with things. He'd been wearing a mask all his life, but only recently had it become a physical mask. Well, she had a mask too, one developed by training. If Octave wanted to dine, he'd see just who it was he asked to dine with.

Red X hand gripped her arm just below the elbow as they were led into destination, a brief warning perhaps, or maybe simply an impulsive clench. An office by the look, up a landing and through a few doors. There was a long table in what looked to be a conference room and it was decorated with various foods. Too much for the three settings on the table. Octave sat at the head of it, two place settings beside him, one on each side.

Men in beige coat stood all around the room, standing watch and there was a very large man who stood directly behind Octave.

"I thought Vi was joining us," Red X said the moment he was through the door.

Octave raised an eyebrow. "You, your sister and your girlfriend in the same room? I think not."

"You have seen her?" Starfire asked as Red X led her to her seat.

"No," he told her.

"Starfire, my dear, you look _ravishing_." Octave licked his lips, then bit into a cherry tomato. It made a small squishing sound in his mouth. His attention had the feeling of slime attached, she didn't like it.

"And you remind me of the Dofestki creatures of Masktaret Prime," she said as sweetly as she could, as if to say, it's a compliment, truly, would I lie?

"Why isn't Vi here?" Red X snapped, taking his seat.

Octave raised his eyebrow then declined to answer. "Eat," he told Starfire. "You must be starving."

Although she was, she just sat there and stared at him. She would not allow him to intimidate her. There was only so much she would allow.

"How are you finding our accommodations?" Octave asked, sly. He leant on the arm of his chair, waving a strawberry around.

"I have been contained in worse places."

"Really?" Octave asked, intrigued. "Do tell."

"I would rather not."

"It sounds interesting."

"You did not strike me as someone who required ideas on how to detain people."

Octave laughed.

Red X slid some chicken on his plate, nodding at the food when she glanced at him. She did not eat, but she did lift her glass and smell it. Satisfied it was water, she took a drink.

"You insult the host by not eating," the man behind Octave said, crossing his arms on his chest in an attempt to be imitating.

"If we were on my planet, you would insult me by insisting the use of utensils," Starfire replied.

"Planet?" Octave asked, intrigued. "You _are_ an alien?"

She raised her eyebrows at that. "Indeed."

"Well done," Octave told Red X, reaching across to slap him on the back. "Dining with an alien, I could not be more pleased."

"Don't touch me," Red X said, more as an automatic reply than an actual spurn.

"My boy, you need to stop pouting. Be grateful I haven't had her simply killed."

"I would like to see you try," Starfire said.

"She's so feisty." Octave laughed. "Delightful."

"Starfire," Red X said, a warning in his voice.

"Oh, do not chastise the girl, you pick your playthings well."

Starfire arched an eyebrow at Red X. "Plaything?"

Red X shook his head, a skittish gesture.

Octave picked up a piece of chicken, shredding it with his fingers before he ate it. "There are not many people who will be as open with me, it is refreshing."

"I feel for you," Starfire said. "Perhaps it is because you surround yourself with people who are afraid for their lives."

"There's an old Japanese proverb, 'When something is broken and then put back together, it only becomes more beautiful'." Octave bit down on a tomato, "I look forward to breaking you."

Starfire looked Octave in the eye. "There is an old Tamaranian saying, 'Break me and you shall only cut yourself of the sharpness of my edges'."

"Then we shall discover your edges." He laughed and she felt his hand slide along her knee. "Perhaps I will take her to my bed tonight," he said, leaning toward her although he was speaking to Red X. "Discover what intrigues you so much-"

"Get your hand off me," she snarled.

Red X jolted, his hands gripping the table as he half rose from the chair. "Octave, leave her alone."

"Off-worlders are not permitted to touch me without my permission," Starfire snapped, her words meshing with Red X's protests as they talked at once.

"You do not call the shots," Octave said. "If she wants you safe, she'll-"

Starfire and Red X caught each other's gaze, there was a limit she would put up with and Octave's hands were not included.

She wanted out, she wanted it now and even though she knew Red X's family was at stake, there was no proof they even survived. Nothing beyond one phone call to Red X by someone who might have been his sister.

Red X must have seen something in her face because he plucked one of the knives from the table and threw it at the large man who had stood behind Octave. The knife impaled in his shoulder and Red X launched himself at the man.

Starfire picked up one of the knives and gripped Octave's hand. Although the temptation to stab the knife in Octave's wandering hand, instead she yanked him forward and elbowed him in the face. She kept his hand, meaning the elbow to the face snapped his head back, then forward into the table. Rising quickly and holding Octave face first on the table, she kicked her chair at the man behind her to stop him advancing on her.

Pressing the tip of her knife to Octave's throat, she sneered. "You will take us to his sister and then we shall leave."

"You're bluffing."

She was, but she wasn't about to tell him that. "Try me," Starfire sneered and jolted him forward a fraction.

A bead of blood trickled down and splashed on the table. She removed the knife to kick a man approaching her away, saw the muzzle a gun and hoisted Octave away from the table so she could use him as a shield, her knife still pressed to his throat.

"There is a reason why Robin keeps me ranged," Starfire sneered into Octave's ear. She held him off the ground, his head back. He was off balance and completely at her mercy.

"How are you doing this?" he gurgled.

"Is it not glorious what can occur when you leave a Tamaranian in the dark to experiment with her pain threshold. Would you like to see what else I can do?"

"Okay, okay, deal."

"Tell your men to back off."

"Back off," Octave blurted.

"X?" Starfire peered over her shoulder at him as she forced Octave to inch toward the door, keeping the other men at bay.

"Coming," he said, dropping the now limp body of Octave's bodyguard on the floor. He pushed past her, touching her hip as he went, and opened the door. He peered through, "Clear. Let's go."

She forced Octave through the door, Red X closing it behind her and she eyeblasted the lock to seal it shut.

"Where is your suit?" she asked Red X.

He tilted his head in the direction of the next door over. "Next room."

"Get it."

Red X bolted.

"You'll never get out of here alive," Octave said.

"Who said I planned to?" Starfire bluffed, still holding him tightly.

"They'll be calling for back up."

She didn't doubt that.

Starfire spent the next few minutes anticipating some sort of attack from any direction. She held Octave tightly in her grip, ready to move at any time. Red X came out a few nerve-wracking minutes later, completely dressed except for his mask. Lifting his palm at Octave, he jerked his head. Starfire moved away as quickly as she could and Octave was thrust up against the wall and trapped there by Red X's sticky binds.

She frowned, having thought they'd leave, take Octave with them in their hunt for his family, but Red X levelled a gun at Octave's chest. "Is she alive?"

Octave didn't answer, just smirked at them.

Red X's expression was tight. "I've checked all your safe houses. I've hacked every database I can find. I've interrogated countless of your minions. I've searched CCTV images. There's _nothing_. Coming back to you, begging for a place, it was last resort and still, _nothing_. Is. She. Alive?"

Octave's smile didn't stop. "No."

Starfire closed her eyes in sympathy. "X, I am so sorry-"

He clicked off the safety and Starfire shifted, nervous. Should she try and stop him if he tried to kill Octave? "The picture of my sister. The phone call."

Octave didn't want to answer, but the smile had dropped off his face.

"I will kill you," Red X snarled and lifted the gun higher to illustrate.

"Look alike," Octave choked out. "To lure you in. We needed your expertise."

"It's been two years. Two fucking years. Why couldn't you just let me go?"

"No one ever gets free."

"You _knew_." Red X jabbed the gun at Octave to emphasis his point. "You knew you'd have nothing to hold on me, even if I came back of my own free will. That's why you only went after me when Starfire came."

"I knew the knowledge your family might be alive wouldn't hold you long term. But a young man, prime of his life, you'd have to have someone special. Nothing screams better than a lovesick puppy. I knew you couldn't stay away from someone who was putting out for you for long. 'Course, we didn't expect _that_." He glanced at Starfire. "How'd you manage to bag that?"

"Starfire's right. You're a sad, pathetic man." Red X lifted the gun.

Starfire shifted, not standing in the line of fire. Instead, she stood by his elbow, facing him. "X, we should go."

He was immobile. "I should kill him."

Starfire touched his arm. "You have received the information you came for."

"He killed them."

"Then we shall bring him to justice."

He snorted. "Like that hasn't been tried."

She did something she had never done before. She used his name. His real name. Just a whisper of the word, a small caress of his name.

He shifted his gaze from Octave to her. The muscle beneath his eye twitched for a moment, then he lowered his gun. "Right."

Octave, who'd remained wisely quiet while Starfire pleaded for his life, ended that by stupidly opening his mouth. "You'll never be free of us-"

"There are other ways to be free," Red X said and clasped Starfire's hand. The gun went into a holster on his hip and he tugged her into a run, leaving Octave yelping behind them.

He knew this place, so Starfire followed his lead.

"He's not going to let this go," Red X said, pressing them both against the wall beside a corner, then peeked around it. Releasing her hand, he took a moment to put his mask on.

"I am certain we will find a way to bring him to justice."

"He kidnapped a Titan," Red X said. "That's a start."

"Precisely." Starfire didn't want to mention she wasn't a Titan any more.

Red X nodded, then pulled her around the corner.

A maze of corridors and doors, some open office areas with desks and chairs, Starfire was amazed such a complex was attached to a factory, but she supposed it was normal. How this all existed and the workers didn't know about the basement, she couldn't imagine but as Red X pulled out a key card to get them through another door and into a corridor, she realised they probably didn't have access.

"Where are we?" she asked, curious.

"Munitions factory," Red X said, a small pant to his voice and she noticed his limp. Robin's blow to his knee must still be bothering him. "Octave owns it, runs it under a different name."

"Why have the police not done something?" she asked, surely a munitions factory in the hands of a mob boss was not good. "By _X'hal_, he has a dungeon, do people not notice?"

"The cops can't get anything on him, he's got plants in their departments. "

"Oh."

He glanced at her and by his body language she could tell he was smiling beneath the mask. "Run now, talk later."

"Okay."

There would be time to discuss a wide variety of things later, after they were free. The least of which was what would happen to them now.

A noise of feet alerted them and Red X ducked them into an office at the edge of the large open plan floor space and under the desk to hide. She pressed against his side in the small space beneath the desk and he wrapped his arm around her, as if he could keep her quiet or safe by having her in his arms. She listened to his thudding heart and quickened breath as they waited for the coast to be clear.

"Where do you want to go?" Red X asked, when it was obvious by the voices in the open office next to them were not going anywhere soon. He kept his voice low so as to not attract attention.

"When?" Starfire whispered, confused.

"First date."

She tilted her head back so she could look at him. "What?"

"You were right, it's a crime we haven't tried to do things normally. We should. Where do you want to go? Dinner and movies?"

She smiled. "That would be glorious."

His hand squeezed her upper arm. "Good," he murmured.

"Although, not immediately."

"Oh?"

"I require some time."

"Time for what?"

"I need to move from the Tower and acquire the job and the apartment. I do not think I can be doing the dating for a little while until I am settled."

"I don't think Robin was serious, cutie."

"Perhaps not, but I was."

"But... your friends," he was astounded.

"Will always be my friends. I am not forsaking them for you."

"Well," he said, unsure. "You can always bunk with me-"

She regarded him. A part of her appreciated him opening up to even allow her a place with him, but she needed to do this on her own.

"Ahh... no? No," he amended, judging her expression. "You can... stay with me until you find a place?"

"I would appreciate that."

"Seems we gotta lot of things to talk about."

"Indeed."

They stiffened as the voices grew closer, preventing any further conversation. He passed the time by examining her bracers, twisting her wrists to get a better view, but ultimately, he didn't know how to remove them.

When they were clear, which was a good while before the voices moved far enough away for Red X and Starfire to crawl to the opposite end of the room and use the key card on the door to escape, they continued their dash for freedom. It seemed to Starfire like they were going in a wide circle, her suspicions confirmed when they came out into that large machinery filled area again. But Red X, instead of pulling her into the lines of machinery, tugged her toward a metallic ladder which headed to the roof.

"Can you fly?" he asked, looking up.

"No," she admitted.

"Damn, I don't have enough juice for a teleport."

"We can make it to the roof."

"Hopefully they'll still be looking in the office for us. Let's go." He gestured the ladder indicating she should go first.

She gave him a bland look. "This dress is not truly conducive to climbing."

"Which is why you're going first."

She thumped him on the arm.

"I suppose you'd prefer someone else get an eyeful? It's not anything I haven't seen before. Besides, nice close up of that mole."

She huffed and shot him a dark look, but headed up the ladder. "You make a single sound of gratification and my foot will be in your face."

"Noted," he said, climbing up behind her. "Can I think it?"

"I cannot stop you thinking."

"_Hmm_..."

Starfire peered down at him. "That better not have been a sound of gratification."

"Nope. 'course not."

She scrunched up her nose at him.

"Just enjoying the view."

She made to retort, but something _tinged_ against the ladder beside her. It startled her enough for her to shriek and cringe away.

Red X was suddenly climbing over her so he was behind, protecting her. "Gunfire! Climb! Move!"

It was quite difficult to climb with him directly behind her, taking fire at the same time. She curled herself as small as she can, since she was not bullet-proof and his cape was but as the gunfire continued to ting around them, becoming more and more frequent, Red X grunting for every one lucky enough to strike his cape. As his urging grew frantic, she knew what she had to do.

She shifted, spinning around, holding onto the metal ladder with one hand.

"Star, move!"

She gripped the front of his suit.

One of his hands came down over hers as he tried to pry her away from his suit. "What are you-"

Starfire tore him away from the ladder. Surrounding herself with as much happiness as she could, she launched them toward the roof.

Gizmo's bracers didn't let her. They protested vehemently. Gritting her teeth as the electricity surrounded her, Starfire tried to force herself through the pain, but when one of the bullets pierced her shoulder, she lost control.

So she did the only thing she could. In a swift movement, she tossed Red X straight up toward the roof, judged his trajectory and eye blasted the roof so he'd sail through it.

His cry of denial was the last thing she heard as she fell toward the ground.


	14. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: **

**Big fat warning: **_Some parts of this chapter may be triggering. Nothing graphic, just pushing that T rating again._**  
**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

**One day ago**

"Hello, deary, wake up."

Starfire flinched awake as water splashed against her face. She'd found solace in being unconscious, but Octave wasn't one to allow her to remain that way long. Her shoulder throbbed from both the gunshot and being strung up and bolted to the wall like she was. They hadn't allowed her any form of painkillers, not that it would have mattered much because human painkillers had no effect on her, but the malicious glee Octave had taken while watching her pain as they'd removed the bullet was concerning.

Sad, small little man didn't even cover it.

The 'doctor' assigned to her care inspected her, then he nodded to Octave. "She's well enough. Wound's knitted. She'll regain full use of the arm. That is, assuming she's wired the same as us."

Well enough for what, she wondered. "Are you not bored of this?" she asked, shifting her aching body. There was not much movement she could do and any part she moved did little to ease the pain.

"You are such a delight to talk to."

"I wish I could say the same."

"Today, since the doc's given you the all clear from your gunshot, we're going to be using these," he said, gesturing the smart looking sterling tray and table he'd had wheeled into the room.

Knives. Of all sizes. Starfire's stomach tightened into a knot. "Have you done the giving up of your pitful attempt to talk me to death?"

Octave picked up one of the knives and examined it, turning it so it caught the light. "Now, this one is my personal favourite, it slices so well."

"Do not touch me."

"If you would just break, sweet thing, all of this would be over. Join my crew, the addition of such a power as yours would be great-"

"I will never aid you-"

He lashed out, giving her no time to brace, the tip of his blade cutting a thin line along her stomach, tearing the cloth of the small red dress she still wore. She jerked and grit her teeth, refusing to allow him the pleasure of hearing her cry out.

"Do you thrive on pain?" Octave asked, casually wiping his blade clean.

"I experience pain differently than you," Starfire retorted.

"Hmm," Octave said, thoughtful and she wondered what he was thinking."Now, if we were to take this knife and slice-"

She bared her teeth at him. "Cut me again and I will kill you."

He regarded her. "I wonder, my dear, if your defiance is only for yourself."

"What does that mean?"

"He is not coming for you."

"You think I remain strong because of some misguided knowledge I will be rescued?" Starfire spat. "You only think you contain me."

"We shall see," Octave said and moved in again.

–

**Fifteen hours ago**

He'd left her alone for hours now. She was sure this was part of the torture itself, making a victim worry when he was coming back, what pain he was concocting for her next, but for Starfire...

It was a relief, even trapped inside this cell and bolted to the wall. Deprived of food and water and _sunlight_, covered in shallow cuts from his blade and her shoulder feeling like it was on fire, it was still a relief to be alone.

She could work on the metal bind holding her to the wall, slowly using her strength and weakening the bonds. Time to recover her strength. Time to sleep.

She was glad he hadn't tried that ultimate expression of power. It was obvious he'd used it before, and he threatened her with it but had been unable to after the tongue lashing she'd given him. A literal tongue lashing, putting that prehensile tongue to good use and tried to strangle him. If he wanted to do that, he'd have to change her position on the wall, which would mean unwelding the metallic bindings and he was afraid she'd get loose. Afraid of teeth and eyebeams and the prehensile tongue.

As much as she wanted, hoped, wished, that Red X did indeed care enough that he'd be willing to try and rescue her, she knew she shouldn't rely on that. She couldn't trust that Robin would listen, even if Red X asked him for help. Red X was never one to ask for help of any sort. It was all down to her.

Soon, Octave wouldn't know what hit him.

–

**Twelve hours ago**

"There is nothing you can do which will make me change my mind."

"He's not coming."

"You do not know him."

"I _made_ him. I know exactly what he's capable off. He's left you here this long. He doesn't care."

"He does."

"Give up, Starfire. "

"Never."

"You are a hero, are you not? Could you sit idly by while I torture someone else?"

Starfire's stomach plummeted.

–

**Five hours ago**

Sleep. Sleep was a relief. There was no pain there.

Raven as she painted her nails, spoke of magic, listened to music and talked of boys. Her quiet smile, and eye roll when people were silly, and her hand of friendship. Faith and trust.

Beast Boy and Cyborg laughing over sundaes, pelting each other with ice-cream and barracking her on as she finished their leftovers. Friendship and family.

Robin. The smile he used to have when he was younger, the time when he was more carefree. Not so burdened by duty. His stammering and stuttering when he tried to convey feelings. His face leaning toward her for a kiss. Feelings she'd thought dormant, lost. Would she ever see him again?

Would she ever see any of them again?

Red X. Confusion and hope. Lips and teeth and tongue. Passion and Freedom.

Why hadn't he come? Why hadn't there been an attempt to free her? Did she mean that little to him?

Hope gave way to despair. Despair gave way to fear. Fear displayed itself with tears.

Could Octave be right?

–

**One hour ago**

Starfire opened her tired eyes. She'd been sleeping, dozing more than anything and was now groggily aware of rattling chains and muffled words.

"Good, you're awake," Octave said, watching her with glee. "There's someone here I want you to meet."

Starfire's widened her eyes as she looked at the person in the room with her. "Oh. _X'hal._"

The moment the girl's gag was removed, she was spewing obscenities.

"Octave, what the effing fuck did I do to deserve this fucking treatment? Who the fuck is this bitch?"

Starfire blinked and pulled her head up in dismay as she stared at the girl. There was an accent, but Starfire was never very good at them, not when humans already sounded strange. Still, such language from such a small girl.

"Shocking, isn't it?" Octave told Starfire as he studied the girl, shaking his head in dismay. "So uncouth."

"I'll give you uncouth," she said, calling him several names as she strained against her chains. "Untie me now."

"No, I don't think so," Octave said and waggled his finger at her. "You've gotten to big for your britches."

"What the fuck is a britch?"

"Do you want to be gagged?" Octave asked, rhetorical, since the girl just rolled her eyes at him. "Now, my dear," he said, turning back to Starfire.

Starfire glared at him. "If you think this will sway me-"

"Then I'll have read you correctly," Octave interrupted. "You let yourself be detained for her. You'll submit. He's not coming, not after all this time. Tell me, sweet thing," he ran his finger along her neck and she snapped her teeth at him, "does absence make the heart grow fonder? Or just colder?"

"I do not expect Red X to come for me."

"Red X? That bastard who was taking down your men?" the girl said.

"The very same. This is his girlfriend." Octave clicked his tongue and spun around to face the girl. "Interesting point of fact, she's also your brother's girl."

The girl's head snapped back to Starfire. "The fuck she is," she said scornfully, eyeing Starfire up and down. "My brother's dead."

"Is he?" Octave said, looking at Starfire like he was sharing a joke with her.

"Who the fuck do you think you are? My brother's dead and buried. No cheap ass skank is gonna come in here now and say he's alive."

"Well, fancy that," Octave said. "Poor little Violet. So alone."

"Oh, bite me Octave, then untie me," she snarled. "This game has gone on long enough."

"Such a temper, and only fifteen." Octave tsked at her.

"I imagine that would have a lot to do with your tutelage," Starfire growled out.

"Your boyfriend turned out okay."

Starfire ignored that. "Where did you hide her?" she asked.

"France." He laughed.

Starfire nodded, that explained the language. She'd heard some families had their own dialect. "Where you are from, yes?"

"Originally," he said, feeling conversational. "I have family there, a nice vineyard we've owned for centuries. Just shipped her off home while I brought... what'd you call him? X? Brought X back into the fold."

"He will never come back to you now."

"Oh, really? And you don't think he's struggling hard to find a way to free you?"

"You cannot have it both ways," Starfire told him, triumphant. She lifted her head feeling more invigorated than before. "Either he is attempting to free me, or he has abandoned me here. Which is it?"

"That sounds like him," Violet snarled.

"He does not know you live," Starfire told her, compassionate.

Violent sneered at her. "Like he cared in the first place."

"He is... complicated."

"Oh, complicated," Octave crowed and clapped his hands as he strolled around the room. "Is that what the cool kids are calling it?"

"I will not explain him to you," Starfire snapped. "That would be a betrayal."

Octave darted toward her, got right up in her face. "But that's what I want. I want you to betray him."

"What do you hope to achieve?" Starfire asked, tired.

"You know exactly what I want."

"I will never submit. And I will not betray him."

"You don't have to submit, my dear," Octave said, picking up a knife. "But it will cost you."

Starfire started to panic as Octave walked toward Violet.

"What are you doing?" Violet asked, her voice going shrill. "Octave, what are you doing?"

Starfire strained against her bonds. He'd positioned her just so she couldn't turn her head to eyebeam Violet's binds unless she tore though the metal encasing her head, he'd planned this. "Leave her alone!"

"Boss, c'mon," Violet said, pleading as Octave picked up his knife. "I'll be good. You like a good girl, I can behave."

Starfire felt sick from Violet's eagerness. She had to get the girl away from this monster. "_Please_."

Octave paused. "Please? Now... this is a development."

Starfire stared at Octave. "Please leave her alone. I shall do whatever you wish for, just do not hurt her."

Octave tapped the flat of his knife against his neck as he thought about that. "You know, I think you're giving in too easy. Do you think I'll forget about all the other-"

There was a loud _ping _which surprised all of them followed by a crackle. Light sparked from Starfire's wrists for a brief moment and then _zap_.

Electricity coursed through her, sparked between her wrists and electrocuted everything in between.

Octave backed away from her slowly as she screamed. And screamed. And screamed. Never-ending high pitched call of pain as the bracers punished her for something she hadn't done.

Everything went green.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**Twenty hours ago**

Watching her fall was the hardest thing he'd ever witnessed and that included identifying his mother's body at the morgue.

Several things crossed Red X's mind. One, he could do _nothing_ to help. He had no power in his belt, no grappling hooks like Robin did and she'd sent him sailing through the roof. Two, she'd sacrificed herself for him. No one had ever loved him like that. And three, now he owed her for saving his life. He always paid his debts. Never mind that he wanted her back-and he wanted her back _now- _he owed her, which means he'd stop at nothing to get her out of that place.

Even if he could get down from the roof without killing himself, what good would he be? She was unconscious. They had guns and by the time he'd managed to land and scurry back to the hole, they were already taking her unconscious form away.

He had very little xenthoium and he needed at least two teleports to break into the xenthoium lock up. Even if he could break in, he'd be caught, and he didn't think the Titans would give him the time of day and listen to why he was doing it. Maybe that Raven chick... if he could get her alone.

Red X had never felt so helpless.

He'd spent the twelve hours watching the compound, trying to find ways to get back in without alerting Octave. All that he'd been able to tell was that guard had doubled. Some of them he'd already taken out in his attempts to get back in, but Octave only responded with more guards. And guns.

Time was passing too quickly. Every second he wasted meant Octave had Starfire longer. And he worried what that meant.

His only hope was that he still hadn't finished that last job for Octave, and Octave _needed_ what he could supply. Octave couldn't kill Starfire outright because he still needed those components.

Hopefully enough to exchange for Starfire's life.

Hopefully, Starfire would be all right.

Hopefully.

There was a lot of that.

If he managed to get back into Octave's compound, Starfire _needed_ her powers back. She'd need to be at full strength. He'd looked at Gizmo's bracers but he'd been struck blank with how he'd rid her of them.

He knew what he needed to do.

–

**Fourteen hours ago**

"Gizmo, get your ass back here!"

"Not on you life," Gizmo said, crossing his eyes and sticking out his tongue. "Maggotous buttwipe."

"So help me, when I catch you-"

"You can't, you scud crunching dumbo, you've got no powers." His tone went sing song as he teased Red X while scurrying from down the alleyway.

Red X followed on his bike as much as he could, given the terrain. "Goddamn it! You're the reason I'm in this mess! I need you."

"Ooooh, baby."

"Ahh, fuck you!" Breaking hard, Red X watched in dismay as Gizmo skittered up the side of the building, somewhere completely beyond his reach and where he'd have no hope of catching up any time soon. Just before Gizmo vanished over the top, he was hit by inspiration. "I can pay you."

Gizmo paused. "Now we're talking. What'd you want?"

"The control mechanism to Starfire's restraints. I want them off."

Gizmo made a duck-face as he considered. "Hmmm... Okay, but you gotta pay me two things."

"What?"

"Starfire's not allowed to come after me once she's free."

"I can't promise that." Red X rubbed his neck.

"Deal breaker, penguin masturbater."

"Dude, gross."

"See, new and improved insults." Gizmo seemed pleased with himself at that.

"It'll be so scary when your voice actually breaks."

"Do you _want_ my help?"

"What if... she doesn't come after you in response to the restraints, but you fuck with her again you're free game."

Gizmo pulled a face. "Okay. S'pose that's all I can ask for."

"What's the second part?" Red X asked, trying to be patient.

Gizmo grinned. "You gotta break me into Wayne Tech."

–

**Twelve hours ago**

Why was he doing this? Why?

Wayne Tech. It boasted the most state of the art security systems in the world and it wasn't wrong. He'd tried to break their systems before and been caught. Many, many times.

And their systems had only improved as he'd gotten older.

Red X was a thief. A kleptomaniac, some would say. He stole because he wanted to, because it was a challenge. The harder to get to, the better. He was a thief and nothing was going to change that about him. Besides, tangling with the Titans afterward was just _fun_.

Although... it had lost some of it's thrill since being with Starfire. She was rubbing off on him. He hadn't stolen anything in months. Well... at least, he hadn't been caught stealing anything.

Maybe it was time to rethink his career choices. Being a thief had only gotten the ones he... might perhaps consider caring about, hurt. Perhaps it was time to take up his day job fulltime.

But Wayne Tech was like the holy grail of thievery. One last steal.

And working with Gizmo to get in there...

Well, maybe that had a chance.

"You gotta do what I say, when I say. You hear me?" Red X told him.

Gizmo scowled. "I ain't a stinkin' newborn."

"No, but you can't do this by yourself, can you?"

Muttering under his breath Gizmo hunkered down beside Red X. "Fiiiine, you ass-nugget."

"Enough," Red X snapped. "It doesn't work. You're still a short little shit and any big talking just makes you look even more immature."

"Hey!"

"Now, shut up. I need to concentrate." He hunkered down, peering across the small distance between the two buildings. It was a good thing he'd gone back to his hide out to retrieve his thieving tools. Not having xenthonuim was hard, but he still knew how to break in old school. He hadn't lost any of that skill.

Gizmo blinked at him. "Wait, we're going in now?"

"Do you have a better plan?"

"Yeah. Wait until dark."

"No. That'd take too long."

"But-"

"We've already wasted two hours." Red X sighed. "Remember how Starfire said Octave Bonnet prefers to kill those who fail him?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think he does to those who defy him?"

Gizmo didn't have an answer.

In truth, the answer made him incredibly nervous. He didn't know for sure, he'd never been privy to what Octave did to those who defied him, but he'd been present enough at interrogations to know what he was capable of. Where else would Red X have learnt his skills?

They went in through the vents in the roof. Most building had sensors and the Wayne Tech building in Skip was one of them. But sensors could be tricked and Red X had a gadget for just that purpose. A quick hack of the motion sensors and they were naught but wayward mice sneaking through the venting shafts.

Red X had to remind Gizmo on several occasions to shut up. Even his muttering and complaining. He briefly wondered if he could get away with gagging the kid, before he decided against it. He needed that restraint controller.

Doors and locks were easy. Travelling through the building to the mainframe was relatively easy as well. Dodging people and keeping Gizmo quiet, now that was hard. Red X was beginning to wish he had waited for nightfall before trying this. The boy was such a chatterbox when he wanted to be, hadn't he ever heard of stealth?

When they reached the mainframe door itself, Gizmo turned to him. "Well that tears it. Never heard of anyone who can get through one of those doors. What now, budgie cruncher?"

Red X rolled his eyes, then went to examine the terminal connected to the door. "Seriously?" he asked after a moment.

"What?" Gizmo asked, hovering behind him.

"This is easy."

"No, it isn't."

"Sure, it is," Red X said. Dragging out one of his knives, he quickly unscrewed the console and set to work on the cabling. "LexCorp has the same security system protecting their mainframe."

"You broke into LexCorp?" Gizmo asked, astounded.

"No. I _work_ for LexCorp. Security consultant."

"Really?"

"Yup. Whaddya think, this was my day job?"

"Um... yeah."

"How messed up would that be? Running around in this getup all day. I'd go insane, not to mention have a hideously pale tan. No, this is just... a hobby."

"A hobby."

"Yup. Comes complete with messing with the Titans." Cables spliced, he reattached the console to the wall.

Gizmo laughed. "Can't say that I haven't done that. And doing the nasty with-"

"Leave her out of this."

"Sorry. Just... it's unexpected. She's... well... she's fucking _hawt_ and you-"

Red X smacked Gizmo up-side his head. "Gizmo, forgive me if I don't have a heart-to-heart with you right now. Also, those naked pictures better not be up on the internet."

"Awww, what?"

Red X fixed a stern glare on Gizmo, made more impressive by the blank mask, until the kid began to sweat. "Okay, okay, they're not. I got my own private stash."

Red X just stared at him.

"Which... I'll delete..."

"Good." He turned his attention back to the console. "Now... I fixed the glitch at LexCorp which allows an override without a passcode, but I pretty sure..."

"What?" Gizmo asked with a pout.

"Well, for this bug, you need to think like a criminal. LexCorp prefers you to have a record whereas Wayne Enterprises won't even look at you... sooooo," he dragged out the word, his fingers flying across the small console. He laughed as the door slid open. "Easy."

Gizmo looked like he was in a candy store at Christmas, the way he raced inside in mainframe, beaming from ear to ear and spinning slowly in a circle as he took in the glory of the Wayne Tech Skippler's Cove mainframe. And set off every single alarm there was inside.

"Gizmo!"

"Opps."

"You idiot!"

"I said '_opps_'."

"Hurry up and grab what you need, we gotta move!"

"Okay, okay!" Gizmo blurted, hurrying to the closest terminal. He extracted something from his belt and plugged it in.

"C'mon!"

"I'm going! Ratzelflasting thing won't go any faster!"

Red X darted out into the hallway outside the mainframe room, trying to judge how fast security would get there. An empty corridor, but Red X could tell they didn't have long. "Gizmo!"

"Keep your shirt on!"

The door at the other end of the hallway crashed open and several guards poured into the corridor. "_Gizmo_!"

"Ten seconds!"

"We don't _have_ ten seconds!" Red X growled, rolled his eyes, and turned to intercept the guards. A large black raven took form between Red X and the guards. "Oh. _Shit_." He backed away from the raven separating him from the other guards. "Gizmo! _Titans_."

"Oh. _Fuck_!"

Flicking his gaze inside the mainframe room, Red X saw Gizmo scrambling to get his cable disconnected.

"Well, well. I might have known."

Hiding any cringes or reaction, Red X lifted both his palms up and pointed them at the assembled Titans. The suit had power enough for those weapons, just not teleports.

"Where's Starfire?" Raven asked immediately, darting forward until she was in front of Robin. Her gaze was fixed on Red X, her hands clenched into fists.

"Raven-" Robin began, exasperated.

Maybe he should ask them for help. Starfire'd want them to know. They were still her friends. "She's-"

Gizmo clattered out of the mainframe room on four of his spider legs. "'Kay, I'm outta here."

Red X made a grab for him. "Wait! The controller!"

"Bite me!" he called, scurrying into the vents.

Red X high-tailed it into the vents after Gizmo before the Titans could stop him. He was surprised Raven was slower on the draw, she normally would have just put a barrier up to stop him.

He could have stayed to explain it to them, but he needed that controller and Gizmo was pissing off with it, after he'd promised to hand it over. They all needed it, even if he had the Titan's help, they needed it. That mattered more than Titan feelings. "Get back here!"

"No way!"

The metal of the vent billowed and creaked under their haste, the drumming sound of their hurried movements echoing loudly. A quiet, slow and careful entry which had taken well over two hours to sneak through vents and disable security systems was now a hasty and noisy dash for freedom. And the green wolf snapping at their heels didn't help matters.

"Gizmo, you promised!"

"Yeah, well, I changed my mind!"

Red X felt a hand close over his boot.

"Gotcha."

A quick glance confirmed a green glove, but Red X didn't allow that to slow him. He flopped, rolling onto his back and kicked out at Robin's head.

It was blocked with a baton. Robin grinned maliciously at him. "You're coming in."

Red X tilted his head back in time to see Gizmo heading up the vertical shaft they'd gone before. "Like hell I am," Red X snarled and shot both palms at Robin. "Sorry, kid," Red X said as he rolled back on his stomach to follow Gizmo. "More important things at stake."

"_Get back here_!"

Red X reached the vertical shaft. "Gizmo!"

Gizmo poked his head back into the shaft, having already scaled it. "Bye!"

"_Gizmo_!" Red X scrambled up the sides of the vertical shaft but it was too late. By the time Red X made it to the roof, Gizmo had gone. And by the angry noises of Robin echoing up the shaft, Red X decided it would be better to run than stay around and take another beating before Robin would listen.

–

**Six hours ago.**

He slept fitfully. Had to, he needed to be able to fight back when the time came. He was nearing complete exhaustion and he couldn't imagine what Starfire must be feeling.

Snatches of nightmare filled sleep in between checking every nook and cranny in Skip for Gizmo. He'd stopped short of putting a bounty out for the kid, he just had to hope he'd surface soon.

The Titans were looking too, a very visual presence in Skip. It was getting harder and harder to avoid them. If he could just get Raven on her own...

–

**Two hours ago.**

He'd found her. It had taken a little searching and then some very nervous pacing since the little green man never wanted to leave Raven alone, but finally she was floating in the air on top of the hotel the Titans had been staying in, meditating.

By herself.

It was a risk. He knew. Raven was the most dangerous of the Titans. If she reacted before allowing him a chance to explain...

He had to hope she cared enough about Starfire to want an explanation. Starfire always talked of Raven in such high regard.

Steeling himself to the wrath he was possibly going to incur, he left his hiding place, heading out into the middle of the roof of the hotel opposite. He waited, his arms at his sides, his legs braced, for Raven to notice him.

She must have been deep in meditation, because she failed to react.

Not sure what else to do, he pulled an x-shuirken from his belt and aimed it for the rooftop, planting it in the concrete beside her.

She was a lot faster than he expected. One moment she was meditating peacefully on the rooftop opposite, the next, he was fending off this incredibly tall, completely cloaked, four red eyes version of her.

"Where is she?" Raven thundered, black tentacles from beneath her cape entangling him. "Where is Starfire?!"

He tried to remain passive in the grasp of her powers, but she was scaring the shit out of him. "Raven-"

"What have you done to her?" Raven continued, her voice becoming deeper and deeper with each word. "By Azar, I will-"

He had one hand free and he used it to tear off his mask, revealing his battered face, the yellowing bruises, the evidence something had gone horribly wrong.

Raven paused, her eyes blinking back to two violet ones, even if everything else around her remained the same. She narrowed her eyes at him and dragged him closer to her form. "What happened?"

"Please," Red X said, the word grating on his tongue. "I need your help."

Raven stared at him. "You think?" She lowered him back to the ground but did not release him.

"Octave Bonnot, know the name?"

"Yes."

"I used to work for him."

The black energy around Red X tightened.

"Used to," he squeaked. "I got out."

The stranglehold loosened a fraction.

"Before I came to Jump, that's when I worked for him. But I got the suit, I told him to fuck himself, I don't work for anyone but myself now."

"How's that working for you?" Raven inquired, straight faced.

"Not so good," Red X admitted. "Octave doesn't let anyone free. He had my sister, or at least I thought he had my sister. So... I had to come back. I couldn't let Starfire get dragged down into that life."

"So... that's what you're doing in Skip and why you were pushing her away? Looking for your sister?"

Red X nodded. "Star... she..."

"Wanted to help?"

"And... got caught in the crossfire."

Raven released Red X, dumping him back on the roof. "Azar be damned."

Red X shoved his head back into his mask. " Now he's got her to use against me and I've been trying to get her out."

"Not doing a very good job of it, are you?" Raven snarled.

He ignored that. "Gizmo put theses bracers on her which restrains her powers. She's defenceless."

"Hardly," Raven said. "But that's why you were going after Gizmo."

"Well... yeah... I'm discovering just how powerful she is. But she got shot, Raven. She's hurt." Raven flinched and paled at that. "And I can't get to her. I need your help finding Gizmo to get that controller so I can give her a chance."

"We should go to Robin."

Red X cringed. "Look. As much as the guy's a good fighter, will he really listen right now? He's got a hard on for bringing me in and I don't have time to fuck around."

Raven raised her eyebrows. "Robin has xenthonium."

It didn't come as any surprise that they were aware he was out of juice. "Controller first. That way..." he hesitated, then said anyway. "If Robin decided to take me in, I know you still have a chance of getting Starfire out."

"You'll abide by whatever Robin decides?" Raven asked, surprised.

Swallowing, he nodded. "Yes."

Raven narrowed her eyes at him. "It hurts you to ask for help."

"Can't depend on anyone but myself, learnt that the hard way."

"If you're with Starfire, you need to be a team player."

"I'm learning that."

She regarded him with her lips pressed into a line. Finally, she nodded, then her eyes flooded with power.

–

**One hour ago. **

Working with Raven, it was so much easier to find Gizmo. Even easier to corner him. Raven wanted to get Starfire out of there as badly as Red X did.

Red X pulled Gizmo from the wall by the straps of his backpack, then forced it open. "Which one?" he asked, peering through.

"Like I'm gonna tell you-"

Red X turned the boy upside down, shaking him furiously so the contents of his backpack and pockets ended up on the floor. Stuff clattered and broke with Gizmo protesting with each shake. "_Cruuuuud_."

"Tell me which one and I'll let you go."

"I didn't bring it-"

"_Liar_-"

Righting Gizmo, Red X gripped the front of his shirt, lifting him up so he could get right in his face. "So help me, if you haven't got it, you're coming back in there with me."

"In... no way!"

"Yes," Raven said. "I'll make you."

"He'll kill me."

"If she doesn't first," Red X pointed out.

Gizmo pointed. "That one-"

A birdarang flashed through the air and the controller Gizmo pointed to was sliced in half. Red X stared at it for a moment, then up at the newly arrived Robin, who stared back at him blank faced as he landed on the rooftop, releasing the grappling hook. Beast Boy swooped down with Cyborg in his claws, both of them looking confused.

"Raven, what the hell are you doing?" Robin asked, readying more birdarangs. "Do you liaise with criminals now too?"

Raven stared at the broken controller and its scattered parts on the ground, her hands covering her mouth in horror. "Oh. Azar."

Robin was in full rant mode. "Why didn't you call in to say you'd found him-"

Red X turned to Gizmo in a panic. "Does it stop working if the controller's broken?"

Gizmo pulled a face. "Umm..."

Red X shook the boy again. "Do the restraints stop working?"

"What restraints?" Robin asked, frowning.

"I dunno!" Gizmo blurted. "Maybe... Probably. It's either that or..."

"Or what?" Red X growled out.

"Or... maybe they create a feedback loop and she'll... be... um..."

"_Fuck_."

Both their heads turned toward the factory just in time to see the green light blast its way through the roof.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

The convulsions the bracers put Starfire through tore every cut on her body, her shoulder reopened, she trashed so hard against the wall. Even when the strength of her movements broke through the welded pieces of metal holding her to the wall, she could not stop the shaking, just bend unnaturally on the floor and scream. The braces burnt her wrists but that was the least of her worries.

Power enveloped her, exploded up and way and into the sky, smashing through the roof and burning everything between her and the sun.

Finally, with a crack, Gizmo's bracers finished overloading and disintegrated, releasing her and Starfire slipped into unconsciousness.

–

Red X was off like a shot even before the release of energy finished, heading toward the factory, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, Gizmo completely forgotten.

Raven was right on his heels, although she had a more coherent state of mind than Red X did, plucking Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy up within a power bubble and dragging them along behind her. She grabbed Red X up mid jump, rocketing toward the factory.

He stared at her in amazement, then a little bit of horror as Raven merged him with the power bubble which held Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy.

"Okay, what the fuck is going on?" Robin demanded the moment Red X was in Raven's bubble.

Red X pressed his hand against Raven's power, trying to see through it.

"Red X!" Robin demanded, grabbing him by the shoulder and spinning him around.

Red X curled his hands into fists. "Octave Bonnot has Starfire, I've been trying to get her back and you just fucking broke the restraining bracer controller and it fed back into her!"

"Say what?" Cyborg blurted.

"Bonnot has Star?" Beast Boy echoed.

"What controller?" Robin asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Red X muttered.

"Hey," Beast Boy snapped, immediately defensive of his girl. "Leave her alone. Be grateful she's bringing you."

"Start from the beginning," Cyborg said.

"I don't have to tell you shit."

"Azar," Raven's voice echoed through the bubble. "Red X was originally employed by Bonnot but he got out. He's been looking for his sister, Bonnot said he had her, Starfire wanted to help, now Bonnot has Starfire to use as leverage against Red X. Bonnot employed Gizmo to build some restraints to stop Starfire using her powers, Red X was trying to get it off Gizmo and you just broke the controller. That about right, Red X?"

Red X nodded, secretly pleased by the horrified look on Robin's face.

"Dude, you couldn't have known," Beast Boy told Robin, then glared at Red X. "It's not like X has given us any reason lately to think he's up to something good. For all we knew it could have been a controller to an atom bomb."

Robin shook his head. "Yes, but-"

"Damn it, why didn't you inform us?" Cyborg snapped.

"We were coming to inform you once we'd cornered Gizmo," Raven told them.

Cyborg's hands were clenched. "I mean when it all started. We could've helped."

"It's not your problem," Red X snarled. "And I don't ask for help."

"You asked Raven," Beast Boy pointed out.

"You should've told us," Robin snapped.

"Like that would have done _any_ good," Red X ground out. "You and me, we _suck_ at getting along."

"And now Starfire's in danger," Robin yelled, the veins in his neck standing out. "That's on you!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Red X bellowed back, trying not to allow Robin's words to affect him as much as they were, even if he knew the boy was right. "If she'd just picked you, she wouldn't be in this mess!"

"Starfire always was one for making stupid choices."

Red X punched Robin in the face and was in turn jumped by Beast Boy and Cyborg and wrestled to the bottom of Raven's bubble.

"Hold him," Robin snapped, holding his nose and reached for the mask.

Red X didn't bother to struggle, he knew it was pointless now.

Raven dropped them before Robin could grab his mask, dumping them all on the roof of the warehouse. They all tumbled apart and Red X took this opportunity to bound a small distance away. "Later," she told them all, fury barely contained in her voice. She offered Beast Boy her hand to help him up. "It can all wait so chuck that testosterone back in your balls and concentrate. Right now, we have a friend in danger. Red X, you know this place, what are we dealing with?"

"It's a munitions factory," Red X said, nervously eyeing the smoke billowing from the hole in the roof. "And by the look of that smoke, it's all going to go up. Getting in is no longer a problem, it's getting everyone out before it blows."

"Right," Robin said, going into leader mode. "Raven-"

Red X didn't listen any more, saving people was their gig, not his. He headed for the hole.

"Red X!" Raven called and he turned around briefly, catching the small devise she tossed at him. Robin looked absolutely livid, glaring at her while his hands covered his belt to prevent any more thefts. "You'll need this."

Red X looked at the small capsule in his hand and grinned, then gave Raven a salute.

–

Starfire woke coughing. Her chest was tight, she could barely breathe and her whole body was awash with pain. Rolling onto her side, she curled up into a ball. Smoke stung her eyes, creating streaking tears but she brushed them away.

Once she was out if here, she'll curl up and sleep for a month. But until then, she had to move.

Wafts of energy floating from her, still being released from her body, she couldn't stop it. She could feel blood seeping from her shoulder, her stomach was wet too.

A small _tink_ in the rubble around her reminded her of other pressing matters.

Growling, Starfire forced herself upright. Every muscle protested and she teetered before she could brace herself.

Octave stared at her in horror, covered in dust and debris from the roof, his leg trapped beneath a wooden beam, completely at her mercy.

Shifting her gaze, she looked at wide-eyed Violet. Staggering over to her, she tore the chains from the girl's body. "Are you okay?"

Shakily, Violet nodded, still starting at her in fright. "What are you?"

"Someone very dangerous right now," Starfire said, looking at the chains in her hands. Turning to Octave she smiled. "It seems we have traded places," she said, advancing on him.

"Wait, wait, you can't," he protested holding up his hands. "You're a Titan."

"Not any more," Starfire snarled and punched him in the nose. He folded backward, sprawled out on the ground.

Something exploded, rocking the already damaged building. Starfire could hear calls of 'fire' from above her. She peered up through the hole she'd made and sure enough, smoke wafted out through the roof.

One thing Starfire knew for certain, the Titans were coming. There was no way they would have missed that release. They couldn't see her like this, battered and bleeding. Not yet.

There were still innocents to help.

Squatting down beside Octave, she removed his jacket. It would fit her, cover most of the damage until everyone was free. Assuming her powers didn't burn through it, but she couldn't care about that now as she pulled it on, her fingers fumbling with the buttons. They wouldn't work properly, so she decided just to hold the jacket closed. She found, now she'd gotten down on the ground, she couldn't get back up. Her legs didn't wish to hold her. "Violet, we must flee, can you aid me?"

Violet stared at her. "No way."

Starfire blinked at her, confused.

"Stay away from me, crazy fire bitch!" Violet spat with false bravado and bolted for the door.

Starfire closed her eyes.

"Star? Starfire!" someone bellowed.

She flickered her eyes open. "Hello?" Coughing, she crawled beneath the smoke toward the door.

Footfalls behind her and then she was grabbed. Shrieking, she kicked out at the figure. "Star! It's me!" Red X said, gripping her upper arms, having been narrowly missed by her foot.

She nearly burst into tears, she was so happy to see him. It was such a relief, she knew her ordeal was almost over. "X!" She wrapped her good arm around him and buried her face into his neck "Oh, X."

He cuddled her, one hand buried in her hair, the other cradling the small of her back. "You okay?" he asked, anxious. His hands stroked her. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I tried to get back in, but I couldn't. Are you okay?"

"Yes," she lied, squeezing her eyes shut to prevent the tears.

"I like what you did to Octave's face... why are you wearing his jacket?"

Gasping, she dragged her head back and gripped the front of his suit. "X. Your sister. She is alive."

"_What_?"

"He lied. She is here. She ran-" she twisted, pointing at the door. "You need to-"

"You first." He twisted, hooking his hand under her knees. Holding Octave's jacket closed with one hand, she fought not to cry out when he lifted her.

Resting her head on his shoulder, she gestured the unconscious man on the floor. "We cannot leave-"

"Yes, we fucking can," Red X said, turning away, he bounced, shifted her grip so he only had one hand on her and teleported up a level. It made her feel sick, the sudden disorientation from his teleport and she gulped in a huge breath to try and keep the bile at bay. "You right?" he asked, noticing.

"I will be," she murmured.

"Ahh, there she is."

Starfire's spirits raised as she recognised Cyborg's deep voice. She lifted her head as Red X turned toward him. "Oh, dear friend, the sight of you makes my eyes sore."

"Good to see you too, fly girl," Cyborg said, activating his arm console.

"You went to them for help," Starfire whispered to Red X, immensely proud he'd done so.

"'Course he did," Cyborg said, with a hard stare at Red X. "He knows we'd never stand by and let you get hurt."

Red X shifted, then held Starfire out. "Here."

Cyborg took her, staring at Red X. "What?" he asked, confused.

"His sister is here," Starfire murmured, then looked at Red X. "Go."

He stared at her for a moment, nodded, then vanished.

"Star," Cyborg started.

"I am fine," she insisted.

"Don't lie to me, sweetheart. Not me."

She closed her eyes, then reopened them as something crashed to the ground near them. Suddenly very alert, she looked at what was occurring. "_X'hal_."

The factory was on fire. Her blast of energy had done something terrible to the factory, parts were exploding, machinery was burning. Wood smouldering, metal glowing hot, none of it was safe. People fought against the flame, ordinary workers, some of them dressed in suits from the office beside the factories, some of them in worker outfits from the factory floor itself, she guessed. Why they'd come in here instead of escaping, she didn't know, but perhaps they'd come to investigate.

Yelling and screaming and crackles of fire.

Her fault. She was the reason they were all in danger.

Cyborg shifted his grip on her. "Don't look."

"I did this." She shifted her gaze, searching out her other friends. Robin, he was planting explosives against a wall. Raven was lifting beams to clear a path through the flames. Beast Boy was carrying injured, congregating them near Robin. She could see people cowering, watching the flames with scared expressions. Some women were crying. Some men were covered in soot.

She lifted her eyes up. The roof would never hold, she could see the way it billowed now, the flames running along it weakening the structure further. It wouldn't hold long enough for Robin to get everyone to safety. They would all perish in this fire.

The fire that was her fault.

Surrounding herself in happiness, she lifted from Cyborg's arms.

He made a grab for her. "Star, what are you doing?"

"Get people out!" Starfire said. "I will take care of the ceiling."

"Star, you're hurt!" Cyborg called after her. "Get back down here!"

"This is my fault," she told him, darting upward. Hands outstretch, she added her support the roof.

She was determined to fix this, determined to make it right, regardless of how she felt, the pain she was in, she had to give her friends the time to get everyone to safety.

Robin looked up, as did Beast Boy, smiling when they saw her. The look on Robin's face was pure relief, while Beast Boy was simply ecstatic to see her. 'Hurry,' she mouthed.

Robin nodded, working faster.

Below her, below the blood now dripping from her toes, running a river down her legs and over her ribs and stomach, the wall exploded as Robin blasted it. She watched, straining against the roof while it trembled and cracked, trying to give a little bit of extra strength to keep it up long enough. People poured through the crack, running, escaping, Robin out first to help people through.

"Star!" Red X bellowed, appearing below her on one of the pieces of machinery not burning.

"Go!" she bellowed, thankful to see a very shocked Violet clinging to Red X's back.

"But-"

"Go!" she commanded again and he nodded and vanished.

Then, just as Beast Boy escaped through the hole in the wall, a massive crack appeared in the roof, slicing its way across. Right between her hands. The weight of it increased, sections of it falling away, plummeting toward the ground. She struggled with it, looking down.

Raven was through. Then Cyborg and she heard his voice carry over the fire. "All clear."

She'd never make it out. If her body wasn't wracked in pain, if she wasn't summoning every single bit of strength she had left, if she hadn't been starved and deprived of sunlight for days, perhaps she would have made it.

But now...

Red X was safe. His sister was safe. Her friends were safe. Everything that was important to her, she had saved. This was her choice.

Starfire closed her eyes and let go.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Raven, fighting panic which bordered on hysteria, watched the factory collapse in on itself. In the brief seconds before it was destroyed, she'd felt a wave of emotion from Starfire so strong, she couldn't help but feel it. Regret. Acceptance. Love. Nothing...

It almost sent her straight back in, screaming at the top of her lungs. As it was, the moment Beast Boy released his tight, protective grip, Raven was straight back into the fray, floating over the rubble. "Starfire? Starfire? Can you hear me?"

The others followed her, Cyborg clambering right over the debris, his arm console active as he searched for her. "I can't see her! Try over there!"

Beast Boy bounded through the twisted metal, shifting from animal to animal, sniffing here, tasting the air there, digging beneath the rubble. "She can't survive under all this, can she?"

"Don't say that!" Robin snapped, standing on a mound of rubble. "Just find her."

Raven lifted up huge chunks of rubble with her powers, casting them aside. "Keep looking!"

Beast Boy wrung his hands nervously, his eyes darting across the huge expanse of rubble they had to search through. "She's gotta be okay, right Cy? She'll be okay?"

Cyborg gave him a look, lifting his shoulders a fraction and Raven felt her heart sink. If Cyborg didn't know, didn't believe, what hope was there?

Cyborg lifted a large metal sheet halfway, then heaved it to throw it hastily away. "I found her!"

Raven turned, darting across the top of the rubble. "I'm coming."

She was too far away to see properly, but she saw Cyborg reach out to touch something, then snatch his hand away. "Oh god. _Help_!" he bellowed frantically.

They all converged on him as fast as possible and Raven gasped.

Starfire lay on a mass of broken glass and debris, her legs beneath a twisted hunk of metal. She wore an odd pin stripped tattered jacket which lay open, revealing what looked to have been a shredded red dress. But that's not what caught Raven's attention, it was the seeping wounds criss-crossing her stomach and upper legs. Wounds which looked liked they'd healed and been reopened. Her wrists were black, burnt, blood soaked her shirt at her shoulder.

She looked like a broken porcelain doll.

"There's so much blood. Why is there so much blood?" Beast Boy whined, pulling on his ears.

Cyborg placed his hand Raven's shoulder. "Raven? Can you...?"

Raven pulled herself together as much as she could. "I don't know. I'll try." She hunkered down, reaching around broken bits of building to place one hand on Starfire's forehead, the other on the top of her chest. Taking a deep breath, she reached out with her powers.

A lot of superficial damage which added up to an overtaxed body doing it's best to survive. She was barely breathing, but breathing was a lessor function for Starfire. The gunshot wound on her shoulder was badly infected. The burns on her wrists were deep, but not beyond the scope of Raven's gifts. Her problem was, where to start. Starfire was exhausted, physically and mentally and any attempts Raven might make on healing her, might actually make her worse.

Adjusting her position, she decided bleeding first, close the wounds, stabilise her as much as she could and get her to a hospital. Scratch that, the Tower. They had the facilities there to help Starfire, Tamaranian medical supplies, some of Starfire's stored blood, because Raven didn't doubt she'd need a transfusion.

Beside Raven, Robin dropped to his knees, gently stroking Starfire's cheek with trembling fingers. He found her hand, cradled it in his, then lifted it to his lips. "God, Starfire. Not her. Not her."

Cyborg began shifting things away from Starfire's legs. "B, help me get this off her so Raven can work."

Beast Boy was still pulling on his ears, horrified. "Oh, god."

Cyborg shifted, making his tone sharp in an effort to prompt the boy into an action that would help. Keep his mind of things. "Beast Boy! Concentrate. We gotta lift this."

There was a small pop, Red X staggering a little as he balanced on the rubble, that girl Raven had seen before beside him. Because Raven was healing, she felt the moment his emotions crashed from seeing Starfire. "It's all my fault," he whispered.

"You!" Robin bellowed, surging to his feet. He grabbed Red X by the front of his uniform and got right in his face.

"I didn't mean for this-" Red X protested.

"It's your fault-" Robin bellowed.

"Robin, calm down-" Raven snapped, trying to concentrate and his added emotions were too much to handle.

"_You've killed her_!" Robin screamed.

"Me? _You_ were the one who broke the controller!" Red X yelled back, shoving at Robin.

"You're the reason she was _here_!"

"Both of you, stop it," Cyborg said, shoving his way between them. "It's not helping."

"Yeah," Violet echoed. "You fucking turtle-nosed freak, get out of my brother's face! I'll effing mess you up!"

Robin turned his head, taken aback by the small girl suddenly in his face. "What?" he asked as he sized Violet up. "Who's that?"

"That's my sister," Red X said.

"Great, another one of you."

"Stop it," Cyborg snapped. "We have more important things happening."

Raven's hand drifted down until it rested on Starfire's stomach. "Gar, get on the communicator for Herald, we need to get to the Tower and I can't teleport us that far and still have the energy."

"Can you save her?" Red X asked, his voice tight.

Raven lifted her eyes and gave him the truth. "I don't know."

–

Red X waited, hid in the corner of the common room of the Titans Tower as Raven and Cyborg worked. Beast Boy stood watch at the door, stopping anyone from entering the medical bay. Robin paced by the window, up and down, up and down, his hands behind his back.

The Tower gradually filled, Herald bringing more and more Titans, come to stand vigil and wait for news. A couple of them reacted to Red X's presence, but a look from Robin quietened them.

He could hear the rumours circulating. Hushed whispering words, others with larger mouths wondering what he was doing here. They didn't approach him and he didn't go to them. He had no plans to integrate himself into the Titan lifestyle.

He was only here for news of Starfire.

Red X felt more and more out-of-place. Violet sat beside him, nonchalantly eating ice-cream without a care in the world, and indeed she did because she had no stake in what was occurring, she was only here for him. He didn't know how to talk to her, what to say, the last time he'd seen her, she'd been ten and a sweet girl, not this foul, loud mouthed thing.

He wanted to talk to her, wanted to know her, but Starfire was in the other room and possibly dying and he couldn't bring himself to speak.

"So, what's this broad to you?" Violet asked.

Red X raised his head.

"A fuck? A fling?" Violet grinned. "Booty call? Or is she really your girl like Octave said?"

"You've got a really foul mouth, you know that?" he answered.

Violet shrugged. "Had to make do after you left me on my own."

"I didn't know you were alive."

"You didn't fucking look either."

"Five years ago, did you ever have any reason to doubt Octave's word?" Red X snapped.

She scowled at him. "Fuck you."

He ignored that. "Because I didn't. He said you were dead. I believed him. It's Octave's fault, not mine. Turn that anger some place else."

"You don't get to tell me what to do."

Red X tried to find something she could understand. "Vi, do you have any friends? Anyone you trust above anyone else? Someone who you can be yourself with no matter what and they'll still look out for you?"

Violet wrinkled her nose at him and turned her face away. "One."

"Same," Red X replied. "She's dying in the other room."

Violet was silent for a time, watching those around them while Red X turned his attention to his shoes.

"Soooooo... wanna explain the getup?"

"Get up?"

"Fancy gay dress-up you have going," she said, gesturing what he was wearing.

"It's how I was able to escape from Octave," Red X said. "By becoming someone else."

"Mask too?"

"Even that."

"And kickin' it with these goodie two shoes?" Violet jerked her chin at them.

"Nah. Star's the goodie two shoes. I just..." he shrugged. "Steal stuff."

"That hasn't changed," Violet said, giving him a tentative smile as they found common ground.

"Since no one else is going to mention the elephant in the room," Speedy said in a loud voice. "I will. Why's he here?"

"Oh, here we go," Red X muttered, folding his arms on his chest.

"Don't," Robin mumbled from the other side of the room.

"Dude, no," Speedy said. "He's a criminal. A known crim. What's he doing here? Is he the one who did this to our Star?"

'Our Star?' Violet mouthed, the spoke aloud. "She _was_ a whore? I thought so with that fucking short dress she was-

Red X growled at her. "Vi. Shut it."

Violet pouted. "He's the one-"

"Now," Red X snapped. Satisfied she would remain quiet, he turned his head and stared at Speedy, making it apparent he was doing so through his mask. "You gotta problem with me, kid?"

Speedy stood, notching an arrow even if he didn't draw the string back. "Yeah, I gotta problem with you. You're a criminal, you don't belong here."

"So, what, criminals can't reform now?" Jinx snapped.

Kid Flash put his hand on Jinx's arm. "Jinxy, I don't think he meant-"

"No, I think he does. What, it's okay if a girl joins the 'good' side, but not a guy? I'm more dangerous, I did worse things than he has. He's got a fucking suit but if I snap my fingers," she lifted her hand. "You're not having sex for a year."

"She'll do it," Kid Flash warned Speedy, who hastily sat down.

"I like her," Violet said to Red X and Jinx gave her an appraising look.

"He's Starfire's boyfriend," Robin snapped, still pacing. "That's why he's here. Now, let it go."

Silence, except for Violet who'd found some gum in her pocket to smack on.

"Shit. Seriously?" Speedy asked.

"But... you?" Kid Flash put in, looking between them nervously.

Jinx laughed. "Go Star," she said and fist bumped Bumblebee. "Now we can have proper girl gossip sessions."

"Weren't you into her?" Aqualad pointed out.

Robin cast him a glare which basically said 'drop it'.

"Ho-shit, did she cheat on you?" Speedy blurted.

"There has to be a relationship there to cheat on," Red X said before he could stop himself. "Skippy there was 'too good' for Starfire."

"Fuck you, X," Robin snarled. "I suppose she told you all about it."

"Yes. She did. You have a duty complex," Red X said, deliberately bating Robin. "Starfire was never going to be number one in your eyes."

"What, and she'll be number one in yours?" Robin returned. "You don't give a shit about anyone or anything."

"You don't know me."

"I know enough," Robin spat. "You're bad news for Starfire. You're going to hurt her."

"Oh, like you did?" Red X snapped. "Leading her on all those years? At least I've been straight with her."

"Which is why she knew _exactly_ what you were doing in Skip," Robin retorted. "Because she told me she had no clue. Not until she saw that picture. So don't you stand there and say you know what's best for her."

"Excuse me? When did I say that?" Red X put the tips of his fingers against his head. "Are you even listening to yourself? The only person who knows what's best for Starfire, is _Starfire_."

Face twisted into a snarl, Robin stalked for Red X, who pushed away from the bench he was leaning on to face him head on. Both of them froze when Cyborg opened the medical bay doors.

They waited, hearts in their throats.

Cyborg examined Red X and Robin with narrow eye before he looked at the earnestly waiting Beast Boy. "Raven could do with a herbal tea," he said.

"Right," Beast Boy replied with a nod and headed bounded toward the kitchen.

"You two, quit comparing sizes and put it back in your pants," Cyborg said.

"How's Starfire doing, Sparky?" Bumblebee asked, rising to her feet.

All eyes rested on Cyborg, waiting his answer. Cyborg's eye flicked to Red X. "Not good. There's some internal bleeding. A lot of superficial cuts which added up to pretty dramatic blood loss. Her shoulder is infected... We'll... know more in a few hours whether what we did helped. She's... well, we think she's sleeping." He jerked his thumb behind him. "But Raven wants a word."

Robin started forward automatically, stopping when Cyborg held up his hand. "With Red X."

"What?" Robin blurted, just as surprised as Red X was. "But I'm-"

"Raven said Red X. Sorry, man, I don't argue with the doc."

Red X swallowed, he hated hospitals, hated seeing people sick and to see Starfire like that... he didn't know if he could. "If Robin wants to go first-"

Robin twisted to face him, a confused look on his face. Red X didn't know if it was because it was the first time Red X had used his name or because he was confused as to why Red X didn't want to go in the medical bay.

"X, get your ass in there," Cyborg muttered.

Raven was half asleep, her head resting in the crook of her arms by Starfire's bedside. She raised her head when Red X walked in.

Starfire was hooked up to a blood machine and a heart monitor. She was incredibly pale, her once vibrant orange skin a pale, peachy colour. The sheet tucked up over her chest was white and crisp, but Red X could see red stained ones in a pile in the corner.

"She's... as stable as I can make her," Raven said, rising. "Next few hours are critical. Make or break, I don't know."

Red X nodded, numb.

"I'm an empath," Raven said.

Red X lifted his eyebrows. "So I've heard."

"So, healing leaves me very open to other emotions," Raven said and everything else unspoken. She could tell how he felt, how uncomfortable he was. She was giving him a moment to collect himself. "You can sit with her if you want. Hold her hand. Star's Tamaranian, touch does wonders for her."

"I... um..." He shifted his weight from foot to foot, awkward.

"Comes as part of being in a relationship, X. Good with the bad. Speaking of the good," she smiled as Beast Boy poked his head through the door, holding out a cup of herbal tea. "I'll be outside. Sit with her." She walked to the door. "There's no cameras here. No one will disturb you for a while. Call me if anything changes."

Red X nodded, getting the message. Once the door closed behind Raven, he pulled off his mask and sat down beside Starfire. Not knowing what else to do, he touched her fingers. Slid them to the back of her hand, then rested his palm there. "You stupid, stupid girl. Don't die. Just don't die."


	18. Chapter 17

**Author's Note:  
**_Parts of this is for Pinku. She only has herself to blame. ^_^  
_

* * *

**Chapter 17**

Red X raised his head from the bed, blinking blearily. He'd been woken from sleep and he wasn't sure why. Running his hand over his face, he scanned the monitors. He wasn't an expert, but it sort of looked okay. Starfire didn't look any better, but she had some colour to her cheeks. The blood machine had been turned off and the drip changed, so obviously Raven had been in while he'd been out.

He hadn't heard her. Either she was incredibly sneaky or he'd been completely out of it.

A soft knock at the door alerted him to the reason why he'd woken. Picking his mask up off the bed, he shoved it back onto his head. "Yeah?"

"Can I come in?"

Robin. Red X swallowed. "Yeah."

Robin walked in carrying a tray of food. "I've been reamed by Raven," he said in explanation, leaving the tray at the end of the bed. "Best behaviour. One wrong emotion and she'll haul me out."

Red X nodded dumbly.

"I got five minutes," Robin continued. "'Cause apparently I'm a nag and she's sick of me."

Red X snorted.

"I know, right? Me. A nag." Robin flopped down in the chair on the other side of the bed. "I didn't poison it."

"You didn't put mouth holes in this mask either."

"True." Robin placed his hand over Starfire's on the bed. "She's... looking better," he said and lifted her hand up so he could cup it between both of his.

The contact irked Red X, but he didn't say anything. Touch, right? Good for Tamaranians and Robin was her... friend. "I guess."

"She was tortured," Robin said. "Raven said... that's what the marks were. Torture marks."

"Octave's dead," Red X told him, feeling pleased at that knowledge himself. "Bastard got what he deserved."

"Did she...?"

"No, I left him in the basement. He's buried under all that rubble."

"Oh."

"Gonna arrest me for that?" Red X asked.

Robin sighed. "I'm sure, had the building not come down, you would have gone back."

Red X shook his head. "Me? No. Would've called the cops and they could sort it out."

"Well, can't blame you for that."

Having a conversation with Robin, in any sort of manner right now was way down on his list of things to do. It felt awkward and forced, and now as they slipped in to silence, they both had their face's turned away from each other, as though they couldn't bare to acknowledge the other's existence.

The silence was just as unbearable too. Red X would have given anything to steal something, just so they'd be normal.

Robin clicked his tongue. "Your sister is a real piece of work."

Red X snorted again. "Tell me about it."

"She and Jinx are getting on though. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

Red X stared at Robin. "Why are you being civil?"

"Pain of death from a half-demon. Believe me, you don't want to get on Raven's bad side."

"You still could've come in here and been silent, but you're trying to make conversation."

"Dude, I'm trying. At least give me that. Or do you want to sit here in silence?" Robin asked.

"Yup."

"Well, tough. You and me, we gotta talk."

"Why's that then?"

He lifted his finger, releasing Starfire's hand just enough to indicate her. "'Cause we both care about this woman right here."

Red X pressed his lips in a line.

"Don't pretend that you don't," Robin said. "Don't pretend that she means nothing. You wouldn't still be here if she did."

"Maybe I'm here to piss you off."

"Uh-huh. You gotta do the right thing, for both of them."

Red X frowned. "Both... what the fuck are you talking about?"

"I got this brother... grew up on the streets, has a mouth, just like your sister. It takes time to crack the shell they've had to create to protect herself. You're her family, all she's got left. It's gotta be you. Or one day, I'll bring bringing her in and no amount of aquaintancing in our past will prevent that."

"I only just found her again. I can't-"

"I don't want to like you," Robin said. "I'd rather we just keep our... whatever we can call this. Distance? Sarcastic banter? Frenemies?"

"Dude, you make us sound like girls. Shall I braid your hair?"

Robin snorted, half smiled, then dropped it. "But Starfire... she needs time to heal too. Vi shouldn't have to compete for attention, she's not going to like it. You can't devote time to both of them."

"You're manipulating me because you want Starfire for yourself. She told me about that kiss."

"She doesn't _want_ me. And that bites, I'll tell you, but I'm still her friend." He shrugged. "'sides, I'm just telling it like it is."

Red X nodded. "I'm not good for her. That's what you said."

"You drag her down in more ways than one," Robin agreed. "But you make her smile too. Starfire smiling... it's a beautiful thing. Can't hate you for giving her that."

Wow, would wonders never cease. "You're being nice to me."

"Yup." Robin gave a rueful grin. "World's gonna end soon."

"We'll go out with a bang."

"If you think you can juggle both and still devote the time needed to help them, try. Just don't string her along. Sometimes..." He swallowed and looked away. "Sometimes duty is more important than love."

Red X narrowed his eyes. "Is that what you told yourself?"

"Every day. Sometimes I even believe it."

"I don't think my sister is a duty."

"No," Robin agreed. "She's family and you owe it to her to try."

"Assuming Starfire survives, you expect me to just walk away?"

"I expect you to do the right thing."

"Dude, when have I _ever_ done the right thing?"

"You can start now." Robin sighed. "Look, X... I'm not saying walk away. I'm not. As much as... I can't see... I don't _want_ to see you two together, I blew my chance. I'll have to live with that. Just give Starfire honesty."

"Honesty..."

"It's that thing you do to tell the truth to someone."

"I _know_ what it means. Bite me, pigeon."

"Good. Back to normal." He stood, tenderly placing Starfire's hand back against the bed. He gave her a long, lingering look before he turned and walked toward the door. "And rethink your career options. If you with her, don't force her to make the call between her job and you. That's not fair."

"Yeah, yeah. I hear you." Red X hesitated. "Thought about that myself, you know."

Robin paused at the door. "Oh?"

"Have a day job and everything."

"How're you coping with the responsibility?" Robin asked, sounding genuinely interested.

"When I have a bad day, I go and annoy the fuck out of you."

Robin snorted. "Well, that explains a few things." He tapped the floor with his boot. "You know, you once told me you knew how to be a hero-"

"No."

"No?" Robin asked with raised eyebrows.

"Caring and shit all the time? Being _accountable_?" Red X pulled a face. "Blerk. Too exhausting."

"Start small. Start with Vi."

Red X nodded and looked back at Starfire.

Robin was right. Damn it all, why'd he have to be right? Everything he'd said made sense. Violet was going to need a lot of attention from him to break her free of that life. To undo the damage Octave had done and he knew how hard that was to undo. But he also had experience in it, he could help her.

It wasn't right for her to feel she had to compete with Starfire for the attention she'll need. And Starfire'll need attention as well, she needed to get better.

Wasn't right for either of them.

Red X buried his face in his hands.

Goddamn it. When did he develop a conscience?

–

"Are we just going to hang around 'til she wakes up?" Violet asked him later when he joined her in the common room.

Red X shrugged. "Do you have somewhere you need to be?"

"Sleep. Shower. The kind of necessities a girl needs. You gotta place around here, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Well." She shook his arm. "C'mon then."

"I can't leave."

"I ain't staying." Violet said. "It's boring as all hell here. The green prick won't let me play games."

"The green prick has a name," Beast Boy called.

"Look," Violet continued, poking her tongue at Beast Boy briefly. "I have a suitcase and a hotel room back in Skip. Take me back there, I'll be fine."

"I'm not leaving you alone. You're liable to run off."

She pulled a face at him. "I don't need to be fucking babysat."

Red X sighed. "Vi-"

"You should go," Raven advised from her place at the table where she nursed a cup of tea. "You probably need a shower and some sleep too. Starfire is stable. I'll let you know the minute anything happens, one way or the other."

"But-"

"Cyborg's gone to recharge, the other's have gone. Beast Boy's going-"

"I am?" Beast Boy asked, swivelling in his chair to look at her.

"Yes. You are," she told him sternly. "I don't care if you curl up on the couch, you need to sleep."

Beast Boy knew better than to argue.

"We have spare rooms," Robin said. Everyone turned to stare at him and he shrugged in response. "If you want."

"Um. No. Thanks. Vi... I'll take you to my place."

"Fiiinally," she sang, bouncing to her feet.

"X," Robin said and tossed him something, which he caught. "Here."

Red X stared at the communicator in his hand. "No thanks."

"I removed the tracker. How else are we supposed to contact you when she wakes up?"

"Um... Batsignal?"

"Fresh out," Robin replied, the corner of his mouth lifting up.

"Waaaaait," Violet said, suddenly inspired. "You're Robin. As in 'Batman and Robin'. As is the dorky sidekick with the pixie boots and-"

"We don't talk about that," Beast Boy said in a hurry as Robin went bright red.

Violet laughed, deep and hard and Red X couldn't help but chuckle along with her. The look of dismay on Robin's face just begged to be laughed at.

"Seems picking on you runs in the family," Raven smirked at Robin.

Robin pulled a face at her.

"We should go," Red X said when Violet stopped laughing. He fixed his gaze on her. "After you return everything."

Violet stared back at him, her face a blank mask and he recognised himself. "Don't know what you're talking about."

Red X held out his hand. "C'mon." He gestured with his fingers. "Cough it up."

Violet pulled a face. "Fiiiine," she said, pulling a couple of objects from her pockets. A gold bracelet, a little unicorn, Beast Boy's controller, a soda, some sort of alien looking gizmo that was probably Starfire's, a wad of cash.

Robin, Beast Boy and Raven stared at her and Violet just shrugged in response. "Effing crud munchers, if you hadn't said anything, I'd've been fine."

There was a very pregnant pause before Beast Boy laughed. "Effing... do you know Gizmo by any chance?"

Violet eyed him. "Yeah," she said, wary. "He's my boyfriend. Why?"

Red X covered his face with his hand and groaned. "Oh. _No_."

Now it was Robin's turn to laugh. "Oh, man, you've got your work cut out for you."

Beast Boy clapped his hands and laughed. "Gizmo's got a girl? Oh, that's awesome."

"What's the fucking problem?" Violet said, tart.

"Right," Red X said. "We're leaving." He saluted Robin with two fingers, grabbed Violet and hauled her onto his back.

"We'll call," Raven promised.

"Thanks," Red X said and teleported.

The brilliant thing about the way Robin had designed this suit was the ability to pre-set coordinates for teleporting. There was the visual line-of-sight teleports, and then coordinate teleports. So Red X was able to dial his apartment directly.

"Woah," Violet said and slid from his back. "This is your place?"

"Yup," Red X replied and dragged his mask off, tucking it into his belt. He kept the suit in a vault in his bedroom, but that would wait until he'd settled Violet a little. "Don't break anything."

"It's a bit... posh."

Red X raised an eyebrow. "Posh?"

"Yeah... or a bachelor pad... entertain a lot of girls, huh?" Violet gave him a sly smile.

"It's not a bachelor pad."

Violet shook her head. "Dude, you got shiny, hardwood floors. Your couch is fucking white. Those benches have a shine. It's all whites and greys and brown. There's no personal touches, it's all guy things. Look," she said, gesturing the large flat screen TV hung on the wall. "Even that." She rolled her eyes. "Everything's so fucking neat."

Red X looked around. He liked it this way, it was crisp, clean, not much clutter. "Umm..."

"I thought you had a girlfriend."

"She's... never been here."

"You can tell." Violet nodded sagely.

Red X sighed. "You're gonna girl it up, aren't you?"

Violet gestured an empty space on the wall. "Mona Lisa would look fucking fantastic there."

Red X laughed.

"Are you loaded?" she asked.

"I'm... comfortable," Red X replied. "Stealing paid off, but I have a job too. Nice retirement fund."

"Bro, you have a _chandelier_."

"Came with the apartment."

"And a bear skin rug."

"Stole that."

Violet stalked to the couch, jumped over the arm and lay across it. "So, how's this gonna work, bro? You gonna whisk me away from my sordid life of crime and show me a better way of living?"

"Do you want to be whisked away?" Red X asked, slumping beside her and stuck his feet on the glass coffee table in front of the couch.

"You mean I get a choice?" she asked, cautious.

"Vi, I'm your brother. I'm not Mom. Yes, there's a better way. Yes, you'll have a more stable life with me. Yes, if you live with me you'll have to go to school. Yes, it's your fucking choice."

She expelled some air. "Huh."

"I want to be a part of your life. I want the chance to know you again and I want you away from the crap Octave did, but the rest is up to you."

"Right."

"We don't have to talk about it now," he said, getting up. "C'mon, I'll show you the bathroom and the guest room. I should have a shirt you can wear."

"You have a guest room?" Violet asked, surprised.

"Yes. And I don't keep any cash here, so don't go looking. You steal shit and I'll find your little boyfriend Gizmo. He and I go way back."

Violet looked taken aback until she realised he was joking and laughed. Then in a small voice, with the same expression she always used when she'd been afraid he wouldn't come home when they were younger, she asked, "Lynx's stick together?"

With a grin and a nod, he held out his hand for her to fist bump. "Lynx's stick together."


	19. Chapter 18

_**Author's Note:**  
_

_Jayjayxoxo77: Pinku draws what she wants when she wants. Also you notice I've steered clear of describing both Red X and Violet in any physical detail, so anything Pinku might choose to draw would be her imagination, based on who she thinks Red X is. As for Lynx... I'm not saying. Believe what you will. _

_Gizmo and Violet ship name is Gizlet. _

* * *

**Chapter 18**

"I don't like the look of these readings," Cyborg muttered, studying the results of their latest test.

"There's no change," Raven murmured.

"You'd think with everything we've been doing, there'd be some sign of improvement," Cyborg lamented.

"Is it my fault?"

Raven turned toward the door and raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Robin?"

He leant against the door frame, his arms crossed on his chest and one foot hooked so his ankles were crossed, toes were resting on the ground. He looked completely miserable. "I broke the controller," he continued. "If I hadn't done that, she'd have the energy to fight this."

"You can't blame yourself," Raven soothed.

"Sure I can." He shrugged. "I'm good at that."

"We don't know," Cyborg said. "We don't know what was going on with Starfire before she released that energy, but I don't think it's your fault."

"I do." Robin shook his head. "If she _had_ the energy, we wouldn't be waiting to see if she'll ever wake up. "

"Man, don't do this to yourself," Cyborg said. "You didn't know that wasn't some nefarious control, all we knew was X was after it and given his track record..." Cyborg's shoulder's slumped. "Besides, if it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I _had_ her in my arms, I should've held on tighter."

"Star's stronger than you," Raven said. "She's stronger than all of us. This isn't anyone's fault, and thinking that it is, it's only going to make you feel worse. What's done is done, we can't change it. We just have to deal with what's occurring."

Robin nodded. "I'll sit with her a while. Raven, you need to get some sleep."

Raven narrowed her eyes at him, but she nodded. "Yeah. You're right."

Cyborg sighed. "I need food stuffs," he mumbled. "Pizza anyone?"

Raven placed her hand against Starfire's forehead briefly, her eyes flashing. With a sigh, she removed her hand. "I should eat before sleeping. Need the energy."

Robin waited until Cyborg and Raven had gone before he strode to Starfire's side. Sitting in the chair beside her, he took her hand and leant forward until he could press it to his forehead. "Don't die," he whispered.

The room should have been deathly quiet, but it wasn't. The air-conditioner hummed. The machines attacked to Starfire blipped and pinged. Rustling of cloth as Robin moved. Little noises.

"I didn't mean for things to turn out like this," he murmured, more to himself than to her. "When... when we broke up, I always said it was just for a little while. Just a month maybe. Then two... Slow things down, be sure, deal with my father and my own commitment issues. I always thought... we'd get back together, you know?"

"Time... got away from me. It always gets away. You always think you'll have time. Have more. 'There'll be another time'," he said, mocking the phrase. "But there isn't and I blew it and this is all my fault. If I hadn't pushed you away, you wouldn't be with him. If you weren't with him, then you wouldn't be hurt. He's got a part of you I'll never get to see, never get to feel and I hate him for that. But I can't blame him, because he wasn't the one who gave you up."

He sighed. "I didn't mean what I said. Really I didn't. You don't have to chose anyone, you'll still have a place here. Forever and always, we already know there's no team without Starfire, remember? That time you went and saw me in the future. You weren't there, the team wasn't together. So you can't die now because I want us to be a team."

He shifted his grip on her hand as if somehow he could force his own life into her, forfeit himself so she'd live. "You're still my best friend. Even if I haven't been a good friend lately. I haven't been there for you, I've made you feel like you can't talk to me about things in your life. I've left you alone and that was wrong of me. I won't do it again. I know I hurt you. Give me a chance to make this right. Give me a chance to be your friend again. Don't leave."

She didn't answer and he didn't know why he expected that she would.

"I don't want you with him. I don't. I can't see... but I will, if that's what makes you happy. I'll be civil. I tried already. I'll put you first above my own feelings. Just get better. Please Star, I don't want to live in this world if you're not here." Tears strung his eyes and with one hand, he removed his mask to rub them. "Damn it."

Fingers curled around his.

Robin jerked his head up. "Star!"

She smiled tiredly at him, her eyes filled with pain, but she seemed glad to see him. Her voice caressed his name just like it used to do when they were younger. "Robin."

"Hey!" He reached for her face with his other hand, caressing her cheek. "God, you had us all incredibly worried." Half standing, he kissed her, just a quick peck to show how pleased he was. A friend kiss. That's what he told himself.

She closed her eyes again, nuzzling his hand a little.

"How're you feeling?"

"Exhausted." Her eyes flashed open, whirled around, then focussed on him. "Is everyone safe?"

He smiled at her. "Yeah. You held the roof up. We all got out."

"Thank _X'hal_." Her eyes roamed around the room. "X?" she asked, tentative.

Robin would never admit how much it hurt to hear her ask for someone who wasn't him. He removed his hand from her face. When he went to release her hand, she held on to it. "I was just gonna call him," he said, patting her hand. "We told him to take his sister home. You've been out for a while."

Starfire's eyes rolled as she closed her eyes again. "Oh. Vi. Yes. Good." Her words were drawn out, she was having difficulties remaining awake.

Reaching for his belt, he hauled out his communicator and flipped the lid open with his thumb. Dialling Red X's communicator, he waited, making sure he secured his mask on his face.

There was a muffled noise as Red X answered, followed by a clatter and Red X exclaiming, "Fuck."

"Drop it, did you?" Robin said, grinning. The elation Starfire was awake, and she'd woken up with _him_, sung through him and he just had to tease.

"I was asleep," Red X replied, rubbing his face with one hand. "The ring tone scared the crap out of me."

As a professional courtesy, Robin averted his eyes as Red X lifted the communicator higher. "Dude, mask." Not that he really got a good look with Red X's hand on his face, but there were a couple of defining features visible. Like eye colour. Hair colour.

"Fuck it," Red X answered. "Star?"

Robin grinned and angled the communicator so Red X could see. "She's awake."

"_Oh,_ Star," Red X breathed, reverent.

"Greetings," she murmured and smiled.

"I'm on my way," he promised her and Robin felt embarrassed at listening in to this moment. To see that smile that used to belong to him, directed at someone else, it really hit home what he'd given up.

"Okay," Starfire sighed, closing her eyes again.

Releasing Starfire's hand, Robin went to the door to call out for their friends, informing them she was awake. Raven practically swooped into the room.

"Star!"

Starfire opened her eyes and gave Raven a smile. "Raven," she said, lifting her hand so Raven could take it.

Raven stooped down so she could kiss the back of Starfire's hand. "We were so worried. How're you feeling?"

Starfire's eyes slid shut. "Not good."

Cyborg placed his hand over Starfire's other one. "You're fighting a few infections, sweetheart," he said softly. "And you lost a lot of blood."

"But everyone was safe," she whispered. "That is all that matters."

Beast Boy crawled up on the bed in kitten from, very careful not to step on her and sat in the space between her ribs and her arm. She had to pull her hand away from Raven's so she could scratch him.

"Yeah, but you scared the hell out of all of us," Cyborg said. "Don't do it again."

"We don't want to lose you, Star," Robin said, standing at the end of the bed. He reached down to hold her ankle and Starfire smiled at him.

Raven reached down to scratch Beast Boy as well. "Any pain?" she asked. "We've got you hooked to that _syndorkian_ bug juice you said was your painkiller, but if it's not enough, we can-"

Starfire shook her head. "It is bearable."

"We don't want it bearable," Cyborg said. "We'd rather you not feel it at all."

"Tamaraians heal faster when we are in pain," she whispered. "I will be fine. I will simply sleep a lot."

"I think we can handle that," Cyborg said.

The door behind them clicked, Starfire immediately brightening as she saw Red X in full uniform standing there, looking incredibly awkward. "X."

"Um. Hi."

Robin squeezed her ankle. "We'll leave, you need to rest." He and Red X shared a look as Robin walked out and Starfire wondered at that. At least the seemed to have buried the hatchet between them.

Beast Boy turned his head and licked her palm, rumbling a purr. Taking the opportunity as Cyborg leant down to kiss her cheek, Beast Boy bounded up on Cyborg's shoulder and draped himself there.

Raven squeezed Starfire's hand. "Call us if you need us."

Starfire nodded.

Red X nodded to Raven in greeting as she passed him and Starfire saw Raven smile. She shifted, trying to find a more comfortable position, or at least a position she was in the least pain. The painkillers worked well, but there were still a numbness through her body. The pain was just at the edge of her awareness, along with exhaustion and she struggled against it.

"X?" she asked as she saw him still standing at the door.

"You... ah..." he cleared his throat as his voice broke. "You had me worried, that's all."

She lifted a hand, trying to coax him to her side.

His head dropped down toward his chest.

"X, is there something wrong?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I..."

She whispered his true name and he was across the room in two bounds, his mask yanked from his head and his face buried in her neck. He leant over her, never touching except for his face, his hands braced either side of her.

Starfire lifted her arms to hug him, aware of the various tubes that came with them, tilting her head so her cheek rested upon his hair. "It is okay."

"It's not," he whispered and kissed her neck. "It's not," he murmured, kissing her jaw. "It's not," he said again, kissing her chin and she waited for him to take her mouth. Instead she looked into bright, watering eyes. "There's nothing I care about more in the world than you and I almost lost you."

Tears filled her eyes at his confession. "X-"

Words were lost when he kissed her. Soft and gentle and very tender, the kiss of a lover. But there was something else there, something she couldn't explain. But she didn't have time to ponder it, she was already falling back to sleep, her body demanding rest.

Releasing her lips, he moved away, held her hand and gave her a smile as he sat beside her. "You should sleep."

She closed her eyes. "Yes. Will you be here when I wake?"

"I hope so."

Her eyes fluttered.

He squeezed her hand. "It's just... it's complicated with Violet. I won't be far away, I promise. And look Spike gave me a communicator. You can call me whenever you like."

"Okay." She flicked open her eyes so she could look at him. "I love you."

Red X raised her fingers to his lips. "Sleep."


	20. Chapter 19

******Chapter 19**

It was several days before Starfire could be awake for long stretches of time. And in that time, she noticed several things.

Robin and Red X seemed to have developed some sort of cautious truce. There will still snide remarks between them, but it seemed to Starfire to be friendly-ish banter, more than their usual snark.

Robin spent a lot of time with her. They talked, just like they used to when they were younger. About anything, everything, except her love life. He fussed over her, brought her food, flowers for her room, drinks. He dragged the TV into the medical bay and sat on another bed and watched old movies with her and didn't mind that she fell asleep partway through a word or the movie. It was just like old times. Before everything.

She was wary, of course, this change had come suddenly, but then she supposed that her being injured brought out this other side of him again.

She asked for a laptop and Robin brought her in one, leaving it on her bedside table. One of the things forefront in her mind, and perhaps reinforced by Robin's behaviour, were the plans she had formulated while in Octave's dungeon. She wanted to get that in motion that as soon as possible. If Robin was serious about continuing this friendship, she thought it was best to leave the Tower. The Tower, not the Titans.

Perhaps that way, they wouldn't fall back into old routines.

She sent off a few emails to places interested in translators and sent an email of introduction to a real estate agent detailing the kinds of place she was interested in renting. The real estate agent had emailed back almost immediately, gushing at her about how thrilled they would be to find her a home and they would start looking for something which suited her straight away.

She hadn't heard back from any translators yet, but she didn't feel the need for them to be urgent.

She was still healing, she told herself every time she fell asleep in the middle of talking, or forgot what she was about to say. Time would be the major factor in that, as much as she felt better every day and was even allowed out into the common room.

She had many, many visitors. All the Titans came to pay their respects and bring cards, a strange human tradition but one she received with grace and smiled at all of them. Cyborg spent a lot of time sitting with her and playing checkers. Or Beast Boy world curl up at the end of her bed. Or Raven would come and they'd paint their nails.

Her wrists were getting better with each one of Raven's treatments, although they were terrible to look at. The scratches and cuts on her body were now just angry scars that would fade with time. The infection in her bullet wound had run its course and although it was still incredibly painful, Raven was confident with time and effort she wouldn't lose any manoeuvrability.

When Red X would arrive to visit, Robin wouldn't vacate the room immediately like she expected him too. He would ask after Violet. There would be small talk, before he would excuse himself.

It was in complete contrast to Red X.

He was awkward when he came in. Hesitant to kiss her, not quite meeting her eyes as he used to. He was holding back and it upset Starfire. She didn't know why he was pulling away but she couldn't breach the subject because she would often fall asleep in the middle of conversations.

Much of his conversations involved his frustration with Violet. How they weren't really coping with being a family again, he didn't know where to start with her and she was rather violently disallowing any form of his authority. She pushed him every chance she got, fought against him. He would say something inconsequential and she would storm out, or break something. Her emotions would flip within moments, one second they'd be talking and laughing like they used to, then she'd lock herself in the bathroom.

Starfire consoled him as best she could, saying it was early days, there were bound to be problems.

"I went home yesterday to find Gizmo and Violet kissing on my couch." He shuddered. "Eww. I'm going to have to burn it."

"I still find it hard to believe Gizmo has a girlfriend. He is still so short."

"Me too," Red X admitted. "It was kind of funny, actually. Good to tease him about." He sighed and the humour disappeared. "And last night she was dragged home by police for making disparaging remarks at them. Stern warnings, but it's just another thing, you know?" He ran his hand over his face. "This is harder than I thought."

"What can I do to assist you?" she asked, placing her hand on his upper arm.

He sighed. "I dunno. I mean, its not like she's threatening to leave and trying to blackmail me to make her stay. I've heard that can happen."

"And still might."

"Yeah. But she's trying too. It's just a learning curve for both of us."

"Indeed."

He glanced at her and turned skittish.

"X, have I done something wrong?" Starfire asked, removing her hand from his shoulder and placing it in her lap.

"No."

"You seem most uncomfortable with me of late."

He sighed and took her hand, threading their fingers together. "It's... because I don't want to... I can't..."

"What?" Starfire asked, concerned.

Red X hesitated, then lifted her fingers to his lips. "I'm caught in a trap, Star. If I tell you now, the trap will close and there'll be nothing I can do."

She blinked, then frowned, reaching over with her other hand to touch his face. "You are concerning me. What is wrong? Perhaps I could help."

He breathed out slowly. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. That I could hold off and it would solve itself, but it's not happening."

"X-"

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Starfire's heart dropped as she waited for the 'but' she suddenly knew was coming.

He reached out and cupped her cheek. "You chose me. You're the first person who's ever chosen me and I'm... I'm always gonna... The thing is... no one's ever chosen Vi either and... I don't know how... I'm so torn. I want to be here for you and there for her and it's not working. Every time I come here, she gets this look in her eyes and this snide kind of voice..."

"She is jealous?" Starfire asked, surprised. He'd never said.

"Yeah... I think so... and... I can't... I don't want her to resent you, Star. I don't want to... " He closed his eyes. "It's becoming more and more clear... I can't date right now. I can't be what you need. Not with everything so fragile with Vi. It's not fair on you, it's not fair on her and... I have to choose."

Tears filled her eyes. "X. Do not."

"I don't want to give you up." He kissed her hand again. "I don't. I want to be selfish and keep you, steal you away."

"Then do it."

"She needs me. For her, there's no one else. Just me."

Starfire sniffled, her chest tight and her throat clogged. "But we could take time, could we not? Surely there is no rush to-"

"What?" he asked. "Wait and see? Do either of us really want that looming? Knowing we could be on borrowed time? It'll break us before we can really begin."

She was already breaking. "But-"

"I can't ask you to wait for me. I won't. I _won't_ be him, Star," he said, resolute. "It's not right. I don't know how long it will be before Vi and I will find our stride and I won't have it hanging over your head. I know what it did to you last time."

He kissed her fingers, then her palm. "I didn't want to mention this while you were healing, but I guess I'm not a good actor. Not when it comes to you. It doesn't seem fair to do this to you right now."

She swallowed. "Better to do it now than when I have healed and expect..." her voice broke and the tears which threatened spilled over.

"I feel like such a jerk. It's a really shitty time to do this."

"It is," she agreed. "But... I understand why you feel you must." It hurt her to admit that, but she did understand.

"I never meant to hurt you."

"I know."

"I'm so sorry."

She nodded tearfully, unable to clearly see him through the tears. "Can we have the booty calls? Could we not go back to that?" she asked, choking on the hysterical laugh that came with it.

He snorted and smiled briefly. "I couldn't do that to you. Not when you know we could be more. You deserve to be happy."

She lifted her hand to cup his on her cheek, holding him there. "You are going to vanish from my life?"

"Clean break," he said, nodding.

"And never look back?"

"I'll look back," he promised. "I'll look back and always, _always_, regret this. But for the first time, I'm not thinking about myself and what I want. I have to put Vi's needs first. Star, you make me _want_ to be a better man. You showed me how."

"That was stupid of me," she said, crying more freely now.

He chuckled. "Yeah, it was." He brushed his hand against her cheek.

"I do not want to let you go."

"I know," he murmured.

She whispered his name and he leant forward to kiss her one last time. She gripped him, held him close and he held her just as tight, but ultimately the kiss had to end, taking their relationship with it.

He disappeared from the room with a regretful look and Starfire dissolved in tears.

Out the window, the sun was shining.


	21. Epilogue

_******Author's Note: **Second chapter posted today. Enjoy._******  
**

* * *

******Epilogue**

Starfire sighed as she slid her key into the lock of her apartment. It had been a long day, working at the Jump City Library in charge of the foreign languages section, not to mention the two Titan call-outs she's managed to have. It was good that the Library didn't mind her having to leave at short notice, they liked the small celebrity feel which came with having a Titan work for them.

She slipped out of her flats at the door and hung her handbag up on the hangers. "Silkie! I have returned!" she called.

Her larva warbled from her living room and Starfire giggled, floating down the hallway. "Hello my little _bumglorf_! Have you had the exciting day?"

She loved her new apartment. It suited her perfectly, it was on the top floor, overlooking the park. She had a little balcony all of her own for various plants. A sturdy kitchen, a couch for kissing, not that it had seen any of that (unless Beast Boy and Raven had snuck one in), but it had been used for sitting friends. She had a TV, Cyborg's house warming gift, a potted plant in the corner from Beast Boy and a doily on the wall which Raven had knitted.

What was even better was that if she walked out onto the balcony and stared across the park, she could wave to Raven and Beast Boy in their own shared flat.

It was everything she always wanted. A space of her own far enough away and yet close at the same time.

It had taken time for her body to heal and she would still have the occasional nightmare, but in the few months since Octave, the nightmares became less and less frequent.

Robin hadn't been pleased with her decision to leave the Tower, but he'd understood. Especially when Raven and Beast Boy announced they were moving in together as well. It was time to move on. Grow up. Be an adult.

Forever a Titan, just not so young any more.

Robin was a frequent visitor in her little apartment. Always coming with a smile and a friendly face, sometime even dropping in after he'd run a patrol, just to see her. The change in their friendship which had begun when she was hurt had only continued to grow. She didn't know where it might be heading, and even if it was heading somewhere if she would allow it, but she would cross that bridge when it came. Until then she was content to just let it grow. It was nice having him as a friend again.

She hadn't seen Red X since he'd left that day. He had been true to his word. A clean break is what he'd offered her and a clean break is what he'd given her. It hurt, his decision, but she couldn't find fault in it. He'd done the right thing for him and for Violet and as much as it had pained her, as much as she missed him, she was glad he was honest with her. She hoped they were both getting on well, that Violet was adjusting to life.

She tried calling him on the communicator once or twice, but he never answered.

But sometimes, when she was on patrol, she'd feel him. A presence behind her. A shadow nearby. Never seen, just there.

Or at least, she hoped. Perhaps it was wishful thinking.

"Nicole and I are going dancing tonight," she told her larva as she headed into the kitchen with her shopping. "You remember Nicole, she is the one who likes to give you the belly rub."

Silkie followed her into the kitchen and made a flying leap up onto the bench. Fetching his bowl from the cupboard, she filled it with food and left it there for him to eat. "I have finally convinced Raven to accompany us on the girls night. What do you think I should wear?"

He warbled and waved his hind legs at her, face planting the food.

"The silver dress?" she said, flicking the kettle on to boil, then finished putting the milk in the fridge. "Is it not too revealing?"

Silkie was too busy eating to answer her.

"Perhaps I should invite Raven over and we can get ready together," she said, fetching her mug and a bag of _gurkletang_ leaves. "Do you think I should wash my hair?" She tugged on her pony tail. "I should style it," she decided.

Silkie sat back, burped, then continue to eat.

She bounced up and sat beside him on the kitchen bench so she could scratch his back while she waited for her kettle to boil. "I am excited for these girls nights," Starfire said. "It is most nice going out and meeting new people, although I do not like being hit on, the dancing is most enjoyable."

She sighed and swung her feet, listening to the sound of the kettle. "Ling mentioned again that she believes I should study for a degree in linguistics. I do so much work for the library, work they have not been able to handle on their own. As much as I do not know what that would achieve, I like the idea of studying. It would be my choice. I have never had to decide what I could learn before, it could be a most joyous venture. Perhaps I should ask Raven about-"

The doorbell interrupted her musing and Starfire bounded from the bench. "One moment!" she sang. Grabbing another cup, she placed it on the bench then darted for the door. "Raven, it appears you have read my mind, I was about to-" the words died in her throat as she opened the door.

It wasn't Raven.

He was unmasked, dressed up in nice shirt and jeans and holding a large bunch of roses and smiling at her in an unsure-but-game way. "Hi Star."

Starfire smiled.

* * *

**_Author's Ending Note:_  
**

_Well, that's all folks._**_  
_**

_For your information, when I started this story, I fully intended to kill Starfire, that was the place I was in, but when I got to the moment, things at home had settled a bit (writing is very therapeutic) and I happened upon this particular idea.  
_

_Which is so much better, because it's all opened ended. You guys can have whoever you want at the door. It could be anyone (well, except Raven, I guess). I know who I believe it to be.  
_

_This was a very interesting exercise, I got a lot out of it. Tried a new style, tried a new ship, found I really liked both.  
_

_Thanks guys for coming on this journey and being gracious with my choice of pairings this time around, even if it irks some people.  
_

_Thank you for letting me share my imagination with you!  
_

_Cheers  
_

_Kry  
_

* * *

_Wait, wait!_

_**FOR PINKU:**  
_

The doorbell interrupted her musing and Starfire bounded from the bench. "One moment!" she sang. Grabbing another cup, she placed it on the bench then darted for the door. "Raven, it appears you have read my mind, I was about to-" the words died in her throat as she opened the door.

It wasn't Raven.

They were both unmasked, dressed up in sexy suits and each holding a large bunch of roses and smiling at her in an unsure-but-game way. "Hi Star. Fancy a threesome?"

Starfire smiled.


End file.
